Measuring and monitoring patient safety in hospitals in Saudi Arabia

Yazeed Kaud,Paul O’Connor,Sinéad Lydon

doi:10.1186/s12913-021-07228-z

Abstract

BackgroundThere is much variability in the measurement and monitoring of patient safety across healthcare organizations. With no recognized standardized approach, this study examines how the key components outlined in Vincent et al’s Measuring and Monitoring Safety (MMS) framework can be utilized to critically appraise a healthcare safety surveillance system. The aim of this study is to use the MMS framework to evaluate the Saudi Arabian healthcare safety surveillance system for hospital care.MethodsThis qualitative study consisted of two distinct phases. The first phase used document analysis to review national-level guidance relevant to measuring and monitoring safety in Saudi Arabia. The second phase consisted of semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders between May and August 2020 via a video conference call and focused on exploring their knowledge of how patient safety is measured and monitored in hospitals. The MMS framework was used to support data analysis.ResultsThree documents were included for analysis and 21 semi-structured interviews were conducted with key stakeholders working in the Saudi Arabian healthcare system. A total of 39 unique methods of MMS were identified, with one method of MMS addressing two dimensions. Of these MMS methods: 10 (25 %) were concerned with past harm; 14 (35 %) were concerned with the reliability of safety critical processes, 3 (7.5 %) were concerned with sensitivity to operations, 2 (5 %) were concerned with anticipation and preparedness, and 11 (27.5 %) were concerned with integration and learning.ConclusionsThe document analysis and interviews show an extensive system of MMS is in place in Saudi Arabian hospitals. The assessment of MMS offers a useful framework to help healthcare organizations and researchers to think critically about MMS, and how the data from different methods of MMS can be integrated in individual countries or health systems.

Highlights

Measuring and monitoring safety (MMS) is fundamental to safety improvement efforts
The aims of the current study are to: (1) examine how patient safety is measured and monitored in Saudi Arabian hospitals; (2) map the methods of Measuring and Monitoring Safety (MMS) in these hospitals onto the five dimensions of Vincent et al’s [4, 5] MMS framework; (3) based on these findings, reflect on the approaches used to MMS in Saudi Arabian hospitals; and (4) evaluate the utility of using the Vincent et al’s [4, 5] framework to classify different methods of MMS
Research design A qualitative descriptive approach was employed to support: (1) a document analysis of the national standards on MMS used in Saudi Arabian hospitals; and (2) an exploration of stakeholders’ perceptions about how patient safety is measured and monitored in Saudi Arabian hospitals through semi-structured interviews

Summary

Introduction

Measuring and monitoring safety (MMS) is fundamental to safety improvement efforts. a major challenge to improving safety in healthcare is the lack of high quality information to allow organizations, teams, The World Health Organization developed the International Classification for Patient Safety (ICPS) to provide an approach to organizing patient safety data for the purpose of aggregation, analysis, and translation intoKaud et al BMC Health Services Research (2021) 21:1224 actionable information [3]. Recognizing that most healthcare organizations lack the capacity to analyze, monitor, or learn from safety information, Vincent et al [4, 5] developed a framework to guide clinical teams and healthcare organizations in the measurement and monitoring of safety. This MMS framework was derived from three scoping reviews on safety measurement in high-risk industries, conceptual approaches and models of systems safety, and research on measuring safety in healthcare. The aim of this study is to use the MMS framework to evaluate the Saudi Arabian healthcare safety surveillance system for hospital care

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