Comparing patient safety culture in primary, secondary and tertiary hospitals in Ghana.

Objective: This study compared patient safety culture among health professionals in tertiary, secondary and primary hospitals. Design: We conducted a cross-sectional survey among thirteen primary, secondary and tertiary hospitals in Ghana. A structured questionnaire was administered to 1,656 health professionals. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Setting: This study was conducted in the Greater Accra, Bono and Upper East regions, representing the southern, middle and northern ecological zones, respectively. Participants: Health professionals. Main outcome measures: The primary outcome was patient safety culture. Results: Five patient safety culture dimensions were rated moderate positive response, while five were rated high positive response. We found a statistically significant difference in patient safety culture across primary, secondary and tertiary hospitals (p < 0.05). For instance, the mean difference between tertiary and secondary hospitals was statistically significant (p < 0.05). Additionally, the mean difference between tertiary and primary hospitals was statistically significant (p < 0.05). There was also a significant difference in the means between secondary and primary hospitals (p < 0.05). Conclusion: This study has demonstrated a variation in patient safety culture across Ghana's tertiary, secondary and primary hospitals. Therefore, healthcare managers and professionals should prioritise patient safety. Funding: This work was supported by the University of Ghana [UGRF/13/MDG-001/2019-2020].

Safety culture and adverse event reporting in Ghanaian healthcare facilities: Implications for patient safety.

INTRODUCTION: Recognizing the values and norms significant to healthcare organizations (Safety Culture) are the prerequisites for safety and quality care. Understanding the safety culture is essential for improving undesirable workforce attitudes and behaviours such as lack of adverse event reporting. The study assessed the frequency of adverse event reporting, the patient safety culture determinants of the adverse event reporting, and the implications for Ghanaian healthcare facilities. METHODS: The study employed a multi-centre cross-sectional survey on 1651 health professionals in 13 healthcare facilities in Ghana using the Survey on Patient Safety (SOPS) Culture, Hospital Survey questionnaire. Analyses included descriptive, Spearman Rho correlation, one-way ANOVA, and a Binary logistic regression model. RESULTS: The majority of health professionals had at least reported adverse events in the past 12 months across all 13 healthcare facilities. Teamwork (Mean: 4.18, SD: 0.566) and response to errors (Mean: 3.40, SD: 0.742) were the satisfactory patient safety culture. The patient safety culture dimensions were statistically significant (χ2 (9, N = 1642) = 69.28, p < .001) in distinguishing between participants who frequently reported adverse events and otherwise. CONCLUSION: Promoting an effective patient safety culture is the ultimate way to overcome the challenges of adverse event reporting, and this can effectively be dealt with by developing policies to regulate the incidence and reporting of adverse events. The quality of healthcare and patient safety can also be enhanced when healthcare managers dedicate adequate support and resources to ensure teamwork, effective communication, and blame-free culture.