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Surgical teams pilot team training

31 August 2006

Surgeons are using airline pilot team training in a groundbreaking project to improve communication in operating theatres.

Top surgeons in Oxford believe such training by ex-British Airways crews could cut the number of errors in surgery and improve safety and success rates.

So important is the study that the Bupa Foundation has awarded the project nearly £300,000 in funding to drive the project forward.

While the severity of the disease, age of the patient and the skill and judgement of the surgeon are clearly major factors - organisational culture and communication are also critical.

The researchers plan to study surgical teams before and after the training to determine whether it improves their attitudes, their performance, or reduces the complication rate in their patients.

Project leader and clinical reader in surgery at the University of Oxford, Peter McCulloch, said: "Successful surgery requires teamwork between nurses, surgeons and anaesthetists - but no formal training in team communication is normally given to these staff.

"Our research will show whether adopting the team training used by pilots in a theatre environment will improve surgical results. If it does this could ultimately change the way theatre personnel are trained."

The project will first watch surgical teams in action, then initiate the team-training programme, before finally assessing them again. The trial results will then be evaluated.

The vice-chairman of the Bupa Foundation, Dr Andrew Vallance-Owen, said: "There has never been a study like this undertaken into surgery. As operating theatres become more high-tech, and procedures become more complicated there is an even greater need for communication and group training.

"If using pilot training can make theatres safer for patients this project will be a huge step forward. Peter McCulloch and his team in Oxford are leading the way and the Bupa Foundation is pleased to back any research that could make a real difference to patients."

The trial is expected to be completed by the end of the year.