Assessing patient safety culture in New Zealand primary care: a pilot study using a modified Manchester Patient Safety Framework in Dunedin general practices

INTRODUCTION: Patient safety is a major concern, both in hospitals and in primary care settings. The current focus internationally is on the prospect of improving patient safety through cultural transformation. There are no tools designed to assess and strengthen safety culture in New Zealand (NZ) general practices, but a United Kingdom (UK) group have developed a toolthe Manchester Patient Safety Framework (MaPSaF)to assess safety culture in UK Primary Care Trusts. We aimed to modify the MaPSaF and test its acceptability and utility in the NZ primary care setting. METHODS: We modified the MaPSaF to suit the NZ context and then used it in 12 Dunedin general practices at baseline and at three months. Participants were all practice personnel present in the practice on the day. Participants rated their practice individually on each of the nine MaPSaF dimensions of safety culture, then discussed the dimensions and their scores and chose a practice-wide consensus score for each dimension in turn. These discussions were recorded, transcribed and analysed to determine acceptability and utility of the modified framework in NZ practices. FINDINGS: The framework process took about one hour. Most participants found the process acceptable and useful. The framework directed team discussion about patient safety issues and facilitated communication and prompted some practices to make changes. Some participants from smaller practices deemed the systems advocated in the framework superfluous. CONCLUSION: The framework can be adapted and used in NZ practices to stimulate learning about safety culture and to facilitate team communication. KEYWORDS: Family practice; patient safety; primary care; safety culture

Download Full-text

Patient Safety Culture Assessment in Primary Care Settings in Greece

Healthcare ◽

10.3390/healthcare9070880 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (7) ◽

pp. 880

Author(s):

Ioannis Antonakos ◽

Kyriakos Souliotis ◽

Theodora Psaltopoulou ◽

Yannis Tountas ◽

Maria Kantzanou

Keyword(s):

Primary Care ◽

Patient Safety ◽

Safety Culture ◽

Health Professionals ◽

Improve Patient Safety ◽

Patient Safety Culture ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Survey Tool ◽

Primary Care Settings

Introduction: A positive safety culture is considered a pillar of safety in health organizations and the first crucial step for quality health services. In this context, the aim of this study was to set a reference evaluation for the patient safety culture in the primary health sector in Greece, based on health professionals’ perceptions. Methods: We used a cross-sectional survey with a 62% response rate (n = 459), conducted in primary care settings in Greece (February to May 2020). We utilized the “Medical Office Survey on Patient Safety Culture” survey tool from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The study participants were health professionals who interacted with patients from 12 primary care settings in Greece. Results: The most highly ranked domains were: “Teamwork” (82%), “Patient Care Tracking/Follow-up” (80% of positive scores), and “Organizational Learning” (80%); meanwhile, the lowest-ranked ones were: “Leadership Support for Patient Safety” (62%) and “Work Pressure and Pace” (46%). The other domains, such as “Overall Perceptions of Patient Safety and Quality” (77%), “Staff Training“ (70%), “Communication about Error” (70%), “Office Processes and Standardization” (67%), and “Communication Openness” (64%), ranked somewhere in between. Conclusions: A positive safety culture was identified in primary care settings in Greece, although weak areas concerning the safety culture should be addressed in order to improve patient safety.

Download Full-text

Patient Safety Culture: Perception of Health Professionals in Primary Care Settings

Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research ◽

10.26717/bjstr.2021.38.006097 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 38 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Ioannis Antonakos

Keyword(s):

Primary Care ◽

Patient Safety ◽

Safety Culture ◽

Health Professionals ◽

Patient Safety Culture ◽

Primary Care Settings ◽

Perception Of Health

Download Full-text

Psychometric Properties of the Greek Version of the Medical Office on Patient Safety Culture in Primary Care Settings

Medicines ◽

10.3390/medicines8080042 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (8) ◽

pp. 42

Author(s):

Ioannis Antonakos ◽

Kyriakos Souliotis ◽

Theodora Psaltopoulou ◽

Yannis Tountas ◽

Athanasios Papaefstathiou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Primary Care ◽

Factor Analysis ◽

Patient Safety ◽

Construct Validity ◽

Safety Culture ◽

Patient Safety Culture ◽

Primary Health Care System ◽

Efficient Operation ◽

Primary Care Settings ◽

Medical Office

Background: Safety culture is considered one of the most crucial premises for further development of patient care in healthcare. During the eight-year economic crisis (2010–2018), Greece made significant reforms in the way the primary health care system operates, aiming at the more efficient operation of the system without degrading issues of safety and quality of the provided health services. In this context, this study aims to validate a specialized tool—the Medical Office Survey on Patient Safety Culture (MOSPSC)—developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to evaluate primary care settings in terms of safety culture and quality. Methods: Factor analysis determined the correlation of the factor structure in Greek data with the original questionnaire. The relation of the factor analysis with the Cronbach’s coefficient alpha was also determined, including the construct validity. Results: Eight composites with 34 items were extracted by exploratory factor analysis, with acceptable Cronbach’s alpha coefficients and good construct validity. Consequently, the composites jointly explained 62% of the variance in the responses. Five items were removed from the original version of the questionnaire. As a result, three out of the eight composites were a mixture of items from different compounds of the original tool. The composition of the five factors was similar to that in the original questionnaire. Conclusions: The MOSPSC tool in Greek primary healthcare settings can be used to assess patient safety culture in facilities across the country. From the study, the patient safety culture in Greece was positive, although few composites showed a negative correlation and needed improvement.

Download Full-text