Patient safety culture as a quality indicator for a safe health system: Experience from Almadinah Almunawwarah, KSA

OBJECTIVES: Safety culture assessments allow healthcare organisations to get a clear understanding of those aspects of patient safety requiring urgent attention and highlight safety culture strengths and weaknesses. This study aimed to evaluate the extent to which the culture supports patient safety at a hospital in KSA. METHODS: A cross-section analytical observational study was conducted at King Fahad Hospital in Almadinah Almunawwarah, KSA. RESULTS: After the survey, the staff felt less certain about the patient safety culture inside the institution. The greatest positive scores were obtained for teamwork within units, safety culture composites, feedback, communication about error, management expectations, actions promoting patient safety, organisational learning, and continuous improvement. However, none of these features achieved a positive score of 75% or more as an area of strength. The rest of the aspects were negatively ranked as areas for probable development, with the lowest scores obtained for non-punitive reaction to error, staffing, hospital handoff and transition, communication openness, and hospital management support for patient safety. CONCLUSION: Commitment to quality care as an outcome is certainly correlated with patient safety. There is a strong need to improve and promote applicable policies to improve the culture of patient safety in hospitals. The development of strong management competence to promote an environment of open consultation and administrative wisdom will contribute to improving patient safety culture.