A Socio-Technical Exploration for Reducing & Mitigating the Risk of Retained Foreign Objects

A Retained Foreign Object (RFO) is a fairly infrequent but serious adverse event. An accurate rate of RFOs is difficult to establish due to underreporting but it has been estimated that incidences range between 1/1000 and 1/19,000 procedures. The cost of a RFO incident may be substantial and three-f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2018-04, Vol.15 (4), p.714
Main Authors: Corrigan, Siobhán, Kay, Alison, O'Byrne, Katie, Slattery, Dubhfeasa, Sheehan, Sharon, McDonald, Nick, Smyth, David, Mealy, Ken, Cromie, Sam
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aviation
Exploration
Failure
Foreign Bodies - economics
Foreign Bodies - epidemiology
Gynecology
Health care
Health services
Humans
Ireland - epidemiology
Medical Errors - economics
Medical Errors - prevention & control
Patient Safety
Radiography
Risk management
Risk Management - methods
Safety Management - methods
Social factors
Studies
Surgeons
Surgery
Working groups
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Summary:A Retained Foreign Object (RFO) is a fairly infrequent but serious adverse event. An accurate rate of RFOs is difficult to establish due to underreporting but it has been estimated that incidences range between 1/1000 and 1/19,000 procedures. The cost of a RFO incident may be substantial and three-fold: (i) the cost to the patient of physical and/or psychological harm; (ii) the reputational cost to an institution and/or healthcare provider; and (iii) the financial cost to the taxpayer in the event of a legal claim. This Health Research Board-funded project aims to analyse and understand the problem of RFOs in surgical and maternity settings in Ireland and develop hospital-specific foreign object management processes and implementation roadmaps. This project will deploy an integrated evidence-based assessment methodology for social-technical modelling (Supply, Context, Organising, Process & Effects/ SCOPE Analysis Cube) and bow tie methodologies that focuses on managing the risks in effectively implementing and sustaining change. It comprises a multi-phase research approach that involves active and ongoing collaboration with clinical and other healthcare staff through each phase of the research. The specific objective of this paper is to present the methodological approach and outline the potential to produce generalisable results which could be applied to other health-related issues.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph15040714