Core measure set for patient safety in perioperative care: a clinical practice-oriented consensus study.

Nunes, A.B., Teixeira, J.P., Leite, A., Schäfer, W., Valli, C., Martínez-Nicolas, I., Paixão, M., Seyfulayeva, A., Abelenda, D.T., Rodríguez, A., Carvalho, P.C., Heideveld-Chevalking, A., Emond, Y., Põlluste, K., Calsbeek, H., Arnal-Velasco, D., Žaludek, A., Garel, P., Wagner, C., Groene, O., Orrego, C., Sousa, P. Core measure set for patient safety in perioperative care: a clinical practice-oriented consensus study. International Journal of Public Health: 2026. 71, art. nr. 1609159.

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Objectives To develop a consensus-based EU-wide Core Measure Set (CMS), including patient-reported measures, for evaluating perioperative patient safety in routine adult care. Methods A four-phase approach was applied: 1) identification of candidate structure, process, and outcome measures through three literature reviews; 2) synthesis into an initial list via deduplication and merging; 3) consensus process using a two-round modified eDelphi technique, with subject-matter and lived-experienced experts rating the importance and feasibility of each measure (consensus: ≥75% rating 7-9, ≤15% rating 1-3), followed by an online Consensus Conference addressing measures highly valued by patients but lacking feasibility consensus; 4) refinement of the CMS for patient safety in perioperative care (CMS-PSPC). Results Out of 9,717 records identified, 340 studies were included, yielding 1,305 measures. After refinement, 247 measures were consolidated; 84 reached consensus, and ten more were added via the Consensus Conference. The final CMS-PSPC comprised 76 measures: 22 outcome, 18 process, and 36 structure measures. Conclusion The CMS-PSPC provides a standardised, patient-centred framework for evaluating, monitoring and benchmarking perioperative patient safety in routine clinical care, supporting EU-wide quality improvement efforts.