It’s not just good sense; it’s good television

Safe surgery is a hit.

We known from personal testimony that it saves lives, and from myriad studies that the numbers stand up to scrutiny – now it’s a rating smash too!

Everyone’s talking about the recent BBC2 Horizon programme with Dr Kevin Fong, ‘How to Avoid Mistakes in Surgery‘ which explores how professionals in high pressure situations – from airline pilots to Formula One pit crews – make life and death decisions, and how these fields are helping to make surgery safer.

If it sounds to you like the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist is relevant here, you’re absolutely right.  In fact, Professor Atul Gawande, Lifebox chair, and Dr Isabeau Walker, Lifebox trustee, are both interviewed on the programme.

It can be hard to captivate an audience talking about safety – the drama only kicks in when you notice safety’s long gone out the door, and there’s a crisis on hand.  Even then it’s not the regular thrill of derring do – it’s the frustration and the sadness that this situation could have been avoided.

We’re so impressed with the way this programme captures the critical importance of safe surgery, and puts safety front and centre on our screens.  It’s not just informative – it’s fine television!  Catch it if you can.