Safety Culture in Focus: Review of Patient Safety Culture Survey Results in Primary Health Care Corporation Qatar

Abstract

Abstract Background Patient Safety is a crucial aspect of every healthcare organization and understanding the safety culture is essential for improving patient health outcomes. Evaluating the patient safety culture enables the health care organizations to gain insights into how their internal system’s structure and processes impact the patient’s overall well-being. In this paper, the hospital survey on patient safety culture that is adopted from AHRQ was used to examine the patient safety culture in the primary health centers in Qatar (PHCC), allowing for a better understanding of areas of strength and areas that require improvements Method The study aimed at comparing the organization’s safety culture in 2021 and its improvement in 2023. The survey was disseminated into 28 primary health centers with different sizes and patient volumes. The survey was sent electronically to all PHCC staff, allowing for better convenience and higher response rate Findings The results of this survey revealed numerous areas of strength, including teamwork across departments, error reporting, management support, communication error, non-punitive response to errors and staffing. On the other side, survey composites such as continuous learning and teamwork within department were identified as areas for improvement Conclusion By allowing for better insights into the culture of safety and identifying areas of strength and weaknesses, PHCC can make informed decisions and implement effective interventions. This will support in enhancing the health and wellbeing of Qatar’s population that aligns with the national health strategies which improves the overall healthcare in the region.