Is the hospital Safety Walkround effective to control the risk of contagion during COVID-19 pandemic?

Abstract

BackgroundThe Safety Walk Round (SWR) is a risk assessment technique designed to decrease adverse events and improve workers attitudes about safety culture through visits and interviews about safety of care. A new field of application could be the safety requirements that hospitals have to guarantee during the Covid-19 pandemic. Our study aimed to investigate the efficacy of SWR on identifying and solving the critical issues that can increase the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in three Italian hospitals.Materials and MethodsThe project was developed during the first wave of SARS-Cov-2 pandemic, from May to July 2020, it involved 3 hospitals in Turin: Traumatology and Orthopaedic Centre, Paediatric Hospital Regina Margherita and Sant'Anna Hospital (obstetric and gynaecological hospital). Pre-triage services and outpatient waiting rooms were identified as areas at higher risk of crowding and potential non-compliance with anti-contagion rules. The first round consisted of observations focused on hands sanitation, safety social distance, PPE correct use. Than the workers of the observed areas were interviewed. Thanks their participation, the critical issues about patient safety and the potential resolutions were identified. A second round was realized to verify the implementation of the planned actions and their effectiveness in solving the issues.ResultsA total of 4907 moments were observed and the 9,1% of them was at risk of contagion. During the interviews 23 critical issues and their possible resolutions were identified. A total of 14 critical issues were solved, 4 partially solved and 5 were build environmental problems and cannot be solved. The 77% of total were completely solved, excluding built environment issues.ConclusionsSWR project was effective in involving health workers in safety promotion activities, sharing informations and improving trust between hospital managers and operators and spreading new skills about safety culture in Covid-19 pandemic contest.Key messages SWR was effective in a pandemic context. During the emergency, the front line staff were enthusiastic about the method and felt listened and guided.This has contributed to achieving the aim of safety.The study showed that SWR is a useful tool for hospital infection control. It also showed that the SWR method can be used in a time of constant change that requires adaptability like a pandemic.