At LHSC, patient safety is our priority and we strongly support the use of Surgical Safety Checklists as a tool to enhance communications and safety in the operating.
A surgical safety checklist is a communication tool to help the surgical team (i.e., surgeon, anaesthetist, nurse, etc.) discuss important details of a patient’s case at three key phases of the surgery:
- Before the patient is given anaesthesia (briefing phase)
- Before the operation is started (time out phase)
- Before the surgery is finished (debriefing phase)
Safety checks are used in every surgery at LHSC.
To learn more about checklists, click the Frequently Asked Questions page.
The surgical safety checklist is publicly reported twice a year.
Official Reporting Periods
January 1 - June 30, 2025
The surgical safety checklist compliance rate for the reporting period of January 1 to June 30, 2025 is:
- 99.87 per cent for University Hospital
- 99.73 per cent for Victoria Hospital
This means all three phases of the checklist were fully completed in 99.87 per cent of all surgeries performed at University Hospital and 99.73 per cent of all surgeries at Victoria Hospital. With the remaining cases, one or more of the elements of the checklist were not completed, such as the verbal debrief at the end of surgery.
July 1 - December 31, 2024
The surgical safety checklist compliance rate for the reporting period of July 1 to December 31, 2024 is:
- 99.86 per cent for University Hospital
- 99.88 per cent for Victoria Hospital
This means all three phases of the checklist were fully completed in 99.85 per cent of all surgeries performed at University Hospital and 99.88 per cent of all surgeries at Victoria Hospital. With the remaining cases, one or more of the elements of the checklist were not completed, such as the verbal debrief at the end of surgery.
January 1 - June 30, 2024
The surgical safety checklist compliance rate for the reporting period of January 1 to June 30, 2024 is:
- 100 per cent for University Hospital
- 99.88 per cent for Victoria Hospital
This means all three phases of the checklist were fully completed in 100 per cent of all surgeries performed at University Hospital and 99.88 per cent of all surgeries at Victoria Hospital. With the remaining cases, one or more of the elements of the checklist were not completed, such as the verbal debrief at the end of surgery.
July 1 - December 31, 2023
The surgical safety checklist compliance rate for the reporting period of July 1 to December 31, 2023 is:
- 99.90 per cent for University Hospital
- 99.75 per cent for Victoria Hospital
This means all three phases of the checklist were fully completed in 99.90 per cent of all surgeries performed at University Hospital and 99.75 per cent of all surgeries at Victoria Hospital. With the remaining cases, one or more of the elements of the checklist were not completed, such as the verbal debrief at the end of surgery.
January 1 - June 30, 2023
The surgical safety checklist compliance rate for the reporting period of January 1 to June 30, 2023 is:
- 99.87 per cent for University Hospital
- 99.76 per cent for Victoria Hospital
This means all three phases of the checklist were fully completed in 99.87 per cent of all surgeries performed at University Hospital and 99.76 per cent of all surgeries at Victoria Hospital. With the remaining cases, one or more of the elements of the checklist were not completed, such as the verbal debrief at the end of surgery.
July 1 - December 31, 2022
The surgical safety checklist compliance rate for the reporting period of July 1 to December 31, 2022 is:
- 99.87% for University Hospital
- 99.17% for Victoria Hospital
This means all three phases of the checklist were fully completed in 99.87% of all surgeries performed at University Hospital and 99.17% of all surgeries at Victoria Hospital. With the remaining cases, one or more of the elements of the checklist were not completed, such as the verbal debrief at the end of surgery.
January 1 - June 30, 2022
The surgical safety checklist compliance rate for the reporting period of January 1 to June 30, 2022 is:
- 99.76% for University Hospital
- 99.62% for Victoria Hospital
This means all three phases of the checklist were fully completed in 99.76% of all surgeries performed at University Hospital and 99.62% of all surgeries at Victoria Hospital. With the remaining cases, one or more of the elements of the checklist were not completed, such as the verbal debrief at the end of surgery.
July 1 - December 31, 2021
The surgical safety checklist compliance rate for the reporting period of July 1 to December 31, 2021 is:
99.84% for University Hospital
99.24% for Victoria Hospital
This means all three phases of the checklist were fully completed in 99.84% of all surgeries performed at University Hospital and 99.24% of all surgeries at Victoria Hospital. With the remaining cases, one or more of the elements of the checklist were not completed, such as the verbal debrief at the end of surgery
January 1 - June 30, 2021
The surgical safety checklist compliance rate for the reporting period of January 1 to June 30, 2021 is:
- 99.85% for University Hospital
- 99.00% for Victoria Hospital
This means all three phases of the checklist were fully completed in 99.85% of all surgeries performed at University Hospital and 99.00% of all surgeries at Victoria Hospital. With the remaining cases, one or more of the elements of the checklist were not completed, such as the verbal debrief at the end of surgery.
July 1 - December 31, 2020
The surgical safety checklist compliance rate for the reporting period of July 1 to December 31, 2020 is:
- 99.74 per cent for University Hospital
- 98.80 per cent for Victoria Hospital
This means all three phases of the checklist were fully completed in 99.74 per cent of all surgeries performed at University Hospital and 98.80 per cent of all surgeries at Victoria Hospital. With the remaining cases, one or more of the elements of the checklist were not completed, such as the verbal debrief at the end of surgery.
January 1 - June 30, 2020
The surgical safety checklist compliance rate for the reporting period of January 1 to June 30, 2020 is:
- 99.75 per cent for University Hospital
- 97.98 per cent for Victoria Hospital
This means all three phases of the checklist were fully completed in 99.75 per cent of all surgeries performed at University Hospital and 97.98 per cent of all surgeries at Victoria Hospital. With the remaining cases, one or more of the elements of the checklist were not completed, such as the verbal debrief at the end of surgery.
