Community Pharmacy Survey on Patient Safety Culture: A Pilot Study in Cairo

Abstract

Background measuring perception of patient safety culture among pharmacists working in community pharmacies is critical to identify opportunities of improvement, and actions required to improve patient safety. The aim of this work is to measure patient safety culture among pharmacists working in community pharmacies. Methods a crosssectional study was performed among pharmacists working in community pharmacies in the center and south of Cairo. Pharmacy Survey on Patient Safety Culture (PSOPSC), developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), was used to collect data. PSOPSC is a self- administered questionnaire containing 36 items that measure 11 dimensions of patient safety culture. Results the study included 210 community pharmacies with 95% response rate. The mean age of pharmacists was 28 ± 5.4 years and males represent 55% of the sample. The overall positive response percent (PRP) ranged between 35% and 69% with a mean of 57.4%. The highest PRP was identified in the domains of “Teamwork” (68, 97%), “Organizational learning–continuous improvement” (64, 93%) and “Patient counseling” (61, 83%). The PRP was less than 60% in six out of the eleven composites. The lowest PRP was found in the “staffing, work pressure, and pace “domain which scored 34 (98%). Conclusion The average overall patient safety culture of community pharmacists highlights the need to put patient safety on the strategic priority at the level of community pharmacies. Attention should be given to the areas of weakness mainly in the dimension of “Staffing, Work Pressure and Pace”. It is recommended to allocate staffs and working hours more adequately and train the community pharmacists on the importance and principles of patient safety.