Category Archives: Survey

CPD, Meetings, Survey

GCAPE Weekend Conference

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UPDATE

Thankyou to everyone who took the time to complete the survey. Unfortunately there isn’t enough interest to warrant organising a conference at this stage.

It has been suggested that we should organise a weekend away for Gold Coast Anaesthetists and their families that includes some legitimate educational content. The general proposal is;

– somewhere nice to spend a weekend with friends/partners/families,
– within a few hours’ drive of the Gold Coast,
– for obvious reasons, some genuine educational component.

I expect the most suitable venues will be major hotel/resort/winery B&B type accommodations that have a meeting room or restaurant we can use for the education session. You will have to  pay for your own accommodation, and perhaps a contribution towards any charges for conference facilities.

It is important to realise that we will need help with the organisation and running of the event, otherwise it won’t happen. Please let me know if you have any special skills in event planning (I don’t) or are willing to present educational material.

To get the ball rolling, I have put together a “Survey Monkey” survey to help establish if there is enough interest to proceed. To this end, if you are interested please complete the survey at;

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5H3HZCL

prior to Monday 14th September. I will get back to everyone with results shortly afterwards, and hopefully another survey to narrow down a date and venue.

Thanks for your help with this, kind regards,

Ian Cameron.

Clinical, Safety, Survey

Stop before you block!

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(Posted on behalf of Paul Slocombe)

Thank you for your time and effort completing the recent computer survey on survey monkey regarding safety checklists prior to regional anaesthesia.

The survey was sent to all Anaesthetists and trainees at Gold Coast University Hospital and Private Anaesthetists via GCape. The purpose of the survey was to gauge how common wrong sided blocks are (given they are believed to be under reported) and also to gauge opinion around the introduction of the “Stop before you block” checklist.

There were 54 responses, the majority of which were consultants (38 or 70%), with 4 fellows, 6 advanced trainees and 6 basic trainees. There was a variety of level of experience with blocks with the majority reporting they perform blocks weekly.

SBYB 01 SBYB 02

There were 7 respondents that reported they had performed a wrong sided block (13% of respondents). The wrong sided blocks were a range of different types (eye blocks, shoulder, paravertebral, femoral and ankle blocks).

SBYB 03 SBYB 04 SBYB 05

There was no real relationship with wrong-sided blocks and being awake (2), sedated (3) or asleep (2). This is similar to other surveys with a survey from the UK reporting that 40% of wrong-sided blocks were performed on patients that were awake, so having an awake patient does not prevent against wrong-sided block.

There were also 7 respondents that reported “near misses” where they had been stopped from performing a wrong-sided block, 6 by the anaesthetic nurse. The majority of anaesthetists never mark the site of their block (66%).

SBYB 06 SBYB 07

To the question of should a site check be performed the majority (94%) said yes, with 92% in favour of one just prior to needle insertion.

Of the replies, the majority (96%) preferred a quick verbal check and 64% would document it in the anaesthetic record.

SBYB 08

So in summary the survey had a good response from consultants with varying experience with blocks. 7 had performed a wrong-sided block with a further 7 near misses. The majority were in favour of performing a site check, with a quick verbal check preferred.

EDIT:

Stop Before You Block has been introduced to Gold Coast University and Robina Hospitals. Simon Pattullo has provided the following references should you wish to institute Stop Before You Block in your hospital;

 

Safety, Survey

Survey – Stop Before You Block

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(Posted on behalf of Paul Slocombe)

Hello Gold Coast Anaesthetists!

My name is Paul Slocombe and I am an Anaesthetic Trainee at GCUH and I would appreciate your help in the form of a quick 5 minute survey.

The purpose of the survey is to gauge opinion amongst all anaesthetists on the Gold Coast (Public and Private) about their experiences with blocks and particularly wrong-sided blocks.

In recent times the UK has adopted a quick simple safety checklist prior to unilateral blocks titled “Stop Before You Block” aimed at preventing wrong-sided blocks. This process is to be introduced at GCUH in a little over a month, but we would greatly appreciate your opinion to guide its introduction.

The survey can be reached via this link (anaesthetists / trainees only):

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/H5ZG9V6

I will be presenting the findings of the survey as part of an educational program during the roll out of the campaign (similar to what was undertaken in the UK). Uptake of the checklist will be audited as part of a formal project that will go toward part of my ANZCA training. I realise your time is valuable and I appreciate your input.

Thank you very much!