Confirming a patient's name and what part of their body is being operated on is part of new checklist for New Zealand hospitals.
A trial of the World Health Organisation's surgical safety checklist, which included Auckland City Hospital, showed the system reduced post-surgery deaths.
The checklist will be distributed to every hospital in New Zealand and Australia.
Professor Alan Merry chairs the Quality and Safety Committee of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists, and led the Auckland test of the system.
Professor Merry told Checkpoint in the past 10 years he has been exposed to potential surgical errors and in each of the three cases the mistake was discovered in time.
