National safety standards for invasive procedures (NatSSIPS)

In January 2023, the Centre for Perioperative Care published revised National Safety Standards for Invasive Procedures (NatSSIPs 2), designed to reduce misunderstandings or errors and to improve team cohesion.

The standards, written by clinicians from multiple professions and specialties, re-launches the WHO checklist. It mandates key stop moments when the standard pathway is confirmed and patient-specific details clarified. This improves both patient safety and team-working. NatSSIPs 2 also newly includes ‘proportionate counts’ for more ‘minor’ procedures. ‘Standardisation, Harmonisation and Education’ are recommended.

These national standards cover all invasive procedures including those performed outside of the operating department.

The original National Safety Standards for Invasive Procedures were published by NHS England in September 2015, to help NHS organisations provide safer care and to reduce the number of patient safety incidents related to invasive procedures in which surgical Never Events can occur.

The surgical never events taskforce report recommended that a set of high-level national standards of operating department practice were developed to support all providers of NHS-funded care to develop and maintain their own more detailed standardised local procedures.

The standards support NHS organisations in providing safer care and to reduce the number of patient safety incidents related to invasive procedures in which surgical never events can occur.