Abstract:
Background. Patient safety culture (PSC) is an essential component of the care quality. An important
contribution to the evaluation of hospital culture and the enhancement of PSC is the HSOPSC
questionnaire elaborated by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Objective of the
study. To assess the patient safety culture among hospital staff using the Bulgarian version of Hospital
Survey on Patient Safety Culture (B-HSOPSC) and explore the areas of deficiencies and opportunities
for improvement regarding this issue. Material and Methods. A national cross-sectional survey was
conducted using a special developed Web-based platform. The questionnaire for assessment of HSOPSC
includes 42 questions, organized in 12 domains. To the Bulgarian version of B-HSOPSC two new items
were added. In total, 545 healthcare professionals from hospitals were enrolled. Data were exported to
SPSS 17.0 and analyzed with descriptive statistics. Results. In general, results show positive
assessments of patient safety culture, regardless of few of exceptions. The dimensions “Handoffs and
transitions” and „Supervisor/manager expectations and actions promoting safety “showed the highest
mean values, respectively 3.76±0.79 and 3.64±0.79, whereas the “Staffing” and “Non-punitive response
to error” have received the lowest mean values, respectively 2.79±0.60 and 2.99±0.89. Conclusion. For
the first time in Bulgaria the level of hospital patient safety was measured. Special attention should be
paid to the staff turnover in hospital, as well as the introduction of a patient safety reporting system in
our country.
