Towards promoting patient safety practices: Baseline assessment of patient safety culture in three private hospitals

ABSTRACT

The study aimed to: assess patient safety culture in three private hospitals, define strengths and weaknesses in patient safety culture, and examine the socio-demographic determinants of patient safety culture. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1193 healthcare providers and administrators with 68.4% response rate. A locally customized hospital version of the Patient Safety Culture Survey (HSOPSC) developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) was used. The mean score of overall perception of safety and frequency of event reporting were 3.4/5.0 and 4.0/5.0, respectively. ‘Excellent’ and ‘very good’ overall grade on patient safety was reported by 28.9 and 55.3% of participants, respectively. About half of participants reported no events in the last 12 months, while 31.4% reported 1–2 events. The strength areas were teamwork within units, organizational learning, and continuous improvement composite dimensions. However, the areas that required improvement were supervisor expectations, actions promoting patient safety, and hospital handoffs and transitions. Higher level of education, nursing career, training on patient safety, having direct communication with patients and working in small hospitals were the determinants of better patient safety culture practice. Hospital managers and policy makers ought to heighten the performance and practices within a non-punitive reporting atmosphere.

KEYWORDS:

• Patient safety
• safety culture
• private hospitals
• Kuwait

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Geolocation information

This study was conducted in Kuwait, one country of the Gulf region.

Notes on contributors

Hanan E. Badr, MD, MPH, Dr.PH, is a Professor of Public Health, University of Alexandria, Egypt. Currently, she is working in Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University. She is the WHO focal point for research on health in Kuwait in the MENA region. Her research interest is health promotion, patient safety, and risk behaviors among adolescents.

Talal AlFadalah, PhD is the head of Safety Programs in Quality & Accreditation Directorate, Ministry of Health, Kuwait. He graduated from Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University. He obtained his PhD in Public Health (Hospital Administration) at University of Alexandria, Egypt. His special interest is leadership in patient safety and patient safety culture.

Fadi El-Jardali, PhD, is a Professor of Health Policy and Systems, Director of Knowledge to Policy (K2P) Center; Co-Director of the WHO Collaborating Center for Evidence-Informed Policy and Practice at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. His research interest is health policy and systems, performance reporting, quality and patient safety, and accreditation.