Use tablets to keep track of surgical instruments, award-winning Hong Kong nurse urges
Operating theatre manager Alick Chiu, 59, considers this the next big step in operation preparation for public hospitals
Surgical safety in Hong Kong’s public hospitals would make another leap forward if the paper count sheets used to keep track of medical instruments for operations could be replaced by electronic tablets, according to an award-winning nurse who has witnessed the evolution of the city’s operating theatres over several decades.
Software on the tablets would be able to alert nurses to inconsistencies in the numbers, said Alick Chiu Hak-fai, 59, operating theatre manager at North District Hospital.
“Chances of miscalculation or [errors due to misread] handwriting can then be further reduced for better safety,” he said.
Chiu was awarded the 2017 Outstanding Staff prize by the Hospital Authority for his service in the public sector since the 1970s.
According to Chiu, except for Tseung Kwan O Hospital – which has used electronic tablets for about two years – public hospitals are still using paper count sheets for nurses to note down and verify the instruments used in operations.
Instruments found inside patients, wrong person gets surgery: Medical mishaps haunt Hong Kong public hospitals
The count sheets are as large as three pieces of A4 paper and have tables printed on both sides for nurses to check types and write numbers. The work is fairly complicated given the number of instruments and operations involved.