Newsletter September 2023: SAFEST - Standards in Perioperative Care

Authors:
Daniel Arnal, Maria Wittmann

The SAFEST project, funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe innovation programme under grant agreement No 101057825, aims to enhance patient safety in perioperative care, a crucial aspect of healthcare. Surgical-related adverse events significantly burden healthcare systems, and SAFEST aims to address this issue through standardised and evidence-based perioperative practices. As previously reported (1), the project involves a diverse team of healthcare professionals, patients, and stakeholders and follows a multi-stage approach. 

SAFEST Partners 

The project’s key stages include: 

1. Developing the SAFEST Perioperative Patient Safety Standardised Practices. 
2. Implementing guided self-evaluations in 10 hospitals across five European countries. 
3. Identifying priorities and action plans through a shortlisting process of existing interventions. 
4. Establishing a Perioperative Quality Improvement Learning Collaborative (PQILC). 
5. Evaluating and monitoring potential patient safety improvements in perioperative care. 
6. Empowering patients throughout the project’s duration. 
7. Envision the sustainability of the study and engagement of 100 hospitals at the European level in the follow-up of the project. 

Notable achievements within the first year of the project include: 

1. Building a project website (https://safestsurgery.eu/) with the project description, news, and blog entries and running the project’s social media on Twitter, LinkedIn and Research Gate. 
2. Describing a comprehensive stakeholder and communications map. 
3. Formation of the Scientific Advisory Group (SAG) to integrate viewpoints of patients, clinicians, and healthcare professionals. 
4. Running two Delphi surveys based on their respective systematic review of the existing evidence for Perioperative Patient Safety Standardized Practices and Patient Safety Core Outcomes 
5. Organising the Perioperative Patient Safety Recommendations Consensus Conference, focusing on refining and reaching a consensus on patient safety perioperative standardised practices. 
6. Hosting the Core Outcome Set (COS) Consensus Online Conference, gathering experts to determine core indicators for assessing patient safety in perioperative care. 
7. Elaborating a set of measurable elements to assess the implementation of the SAFEST Perioperative Patient Safety Standardised Practices 
8. Creating an online platform allows pilot hospitals to self-evaluate and monitor progress on the SAFEST study. 
9. Conducting a face-to-face meeting with representatives from 10 participating hospitals to discuss the self-evaluation process and SAFEST Standardized Practices. 

The project emphasises patient-centred care and addresses challenges such as staff shortages, cultural barriers, and leadership commitment. Patient involvement and active participation are crucial components, ensuring that patient values and perspectives are integrated into recommendations and standards. 

Future steps include collaborating with hospitals for self-evaluation, establishing the Perioperative Quality Improvement Learning Collaborative, and collecting data to evaluate project outcomes. The SAFEST project strives to improve patient safety in perioperative care and aims to share progress, achievements, and research findings along the way. 

We look forward to sharing this journey and updating you on our progress, project achievements, and research findings!  

Follow the SAFEST Project on  Twitter and LinkedIn, or check our website for exciting blog posts, in-depth project information, and news!