Stop Before you Block Tray

Stop Before you Block

Inadvertent wrong-sided nerve blocks, though rare, can lead to serious issues like nerve injury or local anaesthetic toxicity, and potentially wrong-site surgery.

A 2018 HSIB investigation into such cases resulted in SALG developing a national policy to refine the ‘Stop Before You Block’ (SBYB) campaign from 2011.

Previous SALG guidelines were subject to varied interpretations, leading to inconsistent timing for checks.

The updated approach introduces a structured method with three key steps: PREP – STOP – BLOCK.

Resources for SBYB, including posters, videos, SOP templates, and evidence summaries, are available on the SALG and UK-RA websites: Prep Stop Block.