Development of positive patient safety culture (PSC) improves patient safety in primary healthcare centers. A survey was conducted to measure patient safety culture among healthcare workers (HCW) in primary healthcare centers (PHC) in Dammam in 2016.
Methodology
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Medical Office Survey on Patient Safety Culture self-administered questionnaire was used to conduct a cross-sectional survey. All HCW in all government PHC in Dammam region were requested to participate in study. PSC dimensions were calculated as average score of the items per dimension. AHRQ 2014 data was used to conduct international comparison.
Results
A total of 411 respondents participated in study with response rate 82%. Overall rating on patient safety culture for the study was 47.8%. The dimension "Teamwork" had highest positive response rate 84.7% and dimensions: "Communication about error", "Communication openness" and "Work pressure and pace" had lowest positive score, with each scoring below 50% average 49.1%, 41.9% and 35.1% respectively. 47 out of the survey's 58 items had a lower percentage positive response in Dammam's compare to AHQR 2014.
Conclusion
Our findings indicate that an effective patient safety culture should be initiated and implemented in primary healthcare centers in Dammam. Further research is required for more assessment of PSC in PHCs.