New Resource Advances Safe Surgery for Women Affected by Fistula

April 18, 2017—NEW YORK, NY. EngenderHealth’s Fistula Care Plus project has published an important new resource, The Fistula Care Plus Surgical Safety Toolkit, which will advance safe surgical practices and improve health outcomes for women affected by fistula. Accompanying the toolkit is an orientation video produced by Medical Aid Films that shows the ease of using safety checklists and tools and features interviews with fistula surgeons and nursing staff from a leading teaching hospital in Nigeria.

The Surgical Safety Toolkit consists of an adaptable system of quality assurance tools and safety checklists that aim to standardize surgical care. The toolkit is the first resource available to offer checklists designed for women with fistula, prolapse, and incontinence. The checklists are universal, so they can also be used for any type of surgery offered by health facilities.

“Evidence shows that checklists can assist even the most expert surgeons and health care providers by reminding them about important questions and steps,” said Lauri Romanzi, Project Director of Fistula Care Plus. “This toolkit allows you to do the same thing the same way every time to keep the patient safe, especially in the operating theater, which is a high-stakes environment for the patient and the staff,” added Romanzi.

Available in both French and English, the Surgical Safety Toolkit and video will help surgeons and health care providers improve safety and quality of care around fistula surgery—from admission to care long after discharge from the health facility—to ensure the best possible health outcomes for women.

For more information, contact Bethany Cole, at [email protected].