The status and the factors that influence patient safety in health care institutions in Africa: A systematic review

Poor patient safety practices may result in disability, injury, poor prognosis, or even death and are primarily associated with a common concern in Africa. This study synthesized the factors influencing the maintenance of patient safety in Africa’s healthcare institutions. There was an in-depth search in PubMed Central, CINAHL, Cochrane library, web of science, and Embase using the PICO framework. The search results were filtered for Africa and from 2011 to September 2021 to yield 9,656 titles after duplicates were removed using endnote software, and 211 titles were selected for full-text reading as 16 were selected based on predetermined criteria. The quality appraisal was done using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. A matrix was developed, discussed, accepted, and used as a guide for the data extraction. A convergent synthesis design was adopted for data analysis as the data was transformed into qualitative descriptive statements. Patient safety ratings ranged from 12.4% to 44.8% as being good. Patient safety was identified as an essential structure to improve patient outcomes. The factors associated with patient safety were level of education, professional category, hours worked per week, participation in a patient safety program, reporting of adverse events, openness in communication, organizational learning, teamwork, physical space environment, exchange of feedback about error, and support by hospital management. Poor patient safety environment could lead to the staff being prosecuted or imprisoned, lack of respect and confidence by colleagues, embarrassment, loss of confidence and trust in the health team by patients, documentation errors, drug errors, blood transfusion-related incidences, development of bedsores, and disability. These strategies by health institutions to promote patient safety must focus on reducing punitive culture, creating a culture of open communication, and encouraging incidence reporting and investigations to ensure continuous learning among all health care professionals.