Response to “Updated local safety standards for invasive procedures: Guidance or suggestions?” letter

We would like to thank Peter W. Hart, Penelope Beddoes, David Burtle, Michelle L. Bradshaw, for their interest in the revised LocSSiP templates for intensive care medicine.

The changes we made to the previous LocSSiP templates were based on the experiences of the authors and feedback from previous versions, but also incidents reviewed when writing the FICM Safety Bulletin ¹ (ICM related incidents reported to the National Reporting and Learning System graded as causing moderate/severe harm or death) and relevant prevention of future death reports.^2,3

As Peter W. Hart, Penelope Beddoes, David Burtle, Michelle L. Bradshaw note, no check (including the ones mentioned in their letter) is perfect when trying to prevent arterial puncture or inadvertent arterial line placement. Users are encouraged to alter these templates as they feel fit, but we believe that the suggestion of using two methods of confirmation helps mitigate the downsides of any single particular method.

Clare Windsor Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, UK Peter Hersey South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, South Shields, UK Waqas Akhtar Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals NHS Trust, London, UK Peter Bamford Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, UK Jayaprakash Patil Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, Salford, UK