Patient safety culture among community pharmacists in Cairo

BACKGROUND: Measuring perception of patient safety culture among pharmacists working in community pharmacies is crucial to identify opportunities and areas that require improvement. The aim of this work is to measure patient safety culture among pharmacists working in community pharmacies in Cairo. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among pharmacists working in community pharmacies in the center and south regions of Cairo. The Pharmacy Survey on Patient Safety Culture (PSOPSC), developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) was used to collect data. RESULTS: The study included 210 community pharmacies with a 95% response rate. The mean age of pharmacists was 28 ± 5.4 years. The overall positive response percentage (PRP) ranged between 35 and 69% with a mean of 57.4%. The highest PRP was identified in the domains of “teamwork” (68.97%), “organizational learning–continuous improvement” (64.93%) and “patient counseling” (61.83%). The PRP was less than 60% in 6 out of the 11 composites. The lowest PRP was found in the domain of “staffing, work pressure, and pace”, which scored 34.98%. CONCLUSION: The study identified areas of patient safety culture that require improvement in community pharmacies, especially in allocating staff, appropriate working hours, and training community pharmacists on the importance and principles of patient safety. The overall mean PRP of patient safety culture among community pharmacists highlights the need to include patient safety as the strategic priority at the level of community pharmacies.