Measuring patient safety culture: A study at a teaching hospital in Ghana

Abstract

Objective

This study examined the current patient safety culture from the perspective of healthcare workers in a teaching hospital in Ghana and drew comparison with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality 2018 Patient Safety Culture Comparative Database Report.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey was conducted using the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. A total of 435 questionnaires were distributed and 322 valid responses were received (a response rate of 74%). The study sample included 178 nurses, 59 doctors, 19 pharmacists, 35 technicians ((laboratory and radiology), and 31 management staff. The Hospital Survey Excel Tool 1.6 and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 were used to analyze the data.

Results

The overall average score for the 12 dimensions of patient safety culture was 53% which is 12% lower than the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality 2018 benchmark report of 65%. The dimension with the highest positive mean score was “Teamwork within Hospital Units” (77%) while the one with the lowest score was “Frequency of Event Reporting” (33%). All 12 domains except for Frequency of Event Reporting (p = 0.414), Management Support for Patient Safety (p = 0.823), and Teamwork within Units (p = 0.070) have significant relationship with patient safety culture.

Conclusions

Generally, the patient safety culture dimension in the teaching hospital was low. Training of healthcare workers on patient safety and a broad based research including all categories of healthcare staff is highly needed in other to fully understand and change the patient safety culture in Ghanaian Hospitals.