Assessment of the patient-safety culture in a healthcare district

Objectives: 1) To describe the frequency of positive attitudes and behaviours, in terms of patient safety, among the healthcare providers working in a healthcare district; 2) to determine whether the level of safety-related culture differs from other studies; and 3) to analyse negatively valued dimensions, and to establish areas for their improvement. Material and methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study based on the results of an evaluation of the safety-related culture was conducted on a randomly selected sample of 247 healthcare providers, by using the Spanish adaptation of the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC) designed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), as the evaluation tool. Positive and negative responses were analysed, as well as the global score. Results were compared with international and national results. Results: A total of 176 completed survey questionnaires were analysed (response rate: 71.26%); 50% of responders described the safety climate as very good, 37% as acceptable, and 7% as excellent. Strong points were: "Teamwork within the units" (80.82%) and "Supervisor/manager expectations and actions" (80.54%). Dimensions identified for potential improvement included: "Staffing" (37.93%), "Non-punitive response to error" (41.67%), and "Frequency of event reporting" (49.05%). Conclusions: Strong and weak points were identified in the safety-related culture of the healthcare district studied, together with potential improvement areas. Benchmarking at the international level showed that our safety-related culture was within the average of hospitals, while at the national level, our results were above the average of hospitals. (C) 2013 SECA. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L. All rights reserved.