Abstract
BackgroundThere is widespread recognition of the problem of unsafe care and extensive efforts have been made over the last 15 years to improve patient safety. In Sweden, a new patient safety law obliges the 21 county councils to assemble a yearly patient safety report (PSR). The aim of this study was to describe the patient safety work carried out in Sweden by analysing the PSRs with regard to the structure, process and result elements reported, and to investigate the perceived usefulness of the PSRs as a tool to achieve improved patient safety.MethodsThe study was based on two sources of data: patient safety reports obtained from county councils in Sweden published in 2014 and a survey of health care practitioners with strategic positions in patient safety work, acting as key informants for their county councils. Answers to open-ended questions were analysed using conventional content analysis.ResultsA total of 14 structure elements, 31 process elements and 23 outcome elements were identified. The most frequently reported structure elements were groups devoted to working with antibiotics issues and electronic incident reporting systems. The PSRs were perceived to provide a structure for patient safety work, enhance the focus on patient safety and contribute to learning about patient safety.ConclusionPatient safety work carried out in Sweden, as described in annual PSRs, features a wide range of structure, process and result elements. According to health care practitioners with strategic positions in the county councils’ patient safety work, the PSRs are perceived as useful at various system levels.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12913-016-1350-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
There is widespread recognition of the problem of unsafe care and extensive efforts have been made over the last 15 years to improve patient safety
One county council published a number of individual reports pertaining to different health care organizations operating within the county council
With regard to the structure of the patient safety work, 14 different elements were identified in the patient safety report (PSR) (Table 1)
Summary
There is widespread recognition of the problem of unsafe care and extensive efforts have been made over the last 15 years to improve patient safety. The aim of this study was to describe the patient safety work carried out in Sweden by analysing the PSRs with regard to the structure, process and result elements reported, and to investigate the perceived usefulness of the PSRs as a tool to achieve improved patient safety It was over 2000 years ago that Hippocrates said “first, do no harm”, yet until recently medical errors were considered an inevitable consequence of health care. The new patient safety law in Sweden obliges all county councils to assemble a yearly patient safety report (PSR), a written document describing the patient safety work that has been conducted in primary and hospital care, and what results have been achieved in the previous calendar year. There might be other examples but to our knowledge the PSRs seems to be unique
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