A national study of patient safety culture in hospitals in Bulgaria

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.