Design: Descriptive study.
Method: Between June and August 2011 all Dutch hospitals were contacted for a survey by telephone. The questionnaire consisted of 19 questions, partly concerned with the use of checklists, partly with training in the use of laparoscopic equipment.
Results: In total 89 of 91 Dutch hospitals responded to the questionnaire: 8 academic hospitals, 44 peripheral teaching hospitals and 37 general hospitals. Fifty hospitals (56.2%) used a checklist for laparoscopic operating equipment. The other 39 hospitals (43.8%) did not use a specific checklist for equipment, but performed a standard procedure to check the equipment. The level of detail differed among the different checklists: in 9 of the 50 checklists the different devices were not identified separately and in half of the checklists there were no checks on the connection of the equipment. Training with operating equipment took place in 87 hospitals (97.8%). In 33 hospitals this happened only when new equipment was introduced, but in the other hospitals training took place more frequently. This training was mandatory in 58 hospitals (66.7%).
Conclusion: The use of detailed checklists for the use of laparoscopic operating equipment was not found to be standard in all Dutch hospitals. However, all hospitals do have a general procedure for pre-use checking of equipment, but the results are not everywhere formally documented. Training with operating equipment was not mandatory in one third of the surveyed hospitals.