Assessment of patient safety culture in clinical laboratories in the Spanish National Health System

Introduction: There is increasing awareness of the importance of transforming organisational culture in order to raise safety standards. This paper describes the results obtained from an evaluation of patient safety culture in a sample of clinical laboratories in public hospitals in the Spanish Nati...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Giménez-Marín, A, Rivas-Ruiz, F, García-Raja, AM, Venta-Obaya, R, Fusté-Ventosa, M, Caballé-Martín, I, Benítez-Estevez, A, Quinteiro-García, AI, Bedini, JL, León-Justel, A, Torra-Puig, M
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2015
País:España
Institución:Institut d'Investigació i Innovació Parc Taulí (I3PT)
Repositorio:r-I3PT. Repositorio Institucional Producción Científica del Institut d'Investigació i Innovació Parc Taulí
OAI Identifier:oai:i3pt.fundanetsuite.com:p5861
Acceso en línea:https://i3pt.portalinvestigacion.com/publicaciones/5861
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:patient safety
clinical laboratory services
questionnaires
cross-sectional studies
public hospital
universal safety measures
total quality management
Descripción
Sumario:Introduction: There is increasing awareness of the importance of transforming organisational culture in order to raise safety standards. This paper describes the results obtained from an evaluation of patient safety culture in a sample of clinical laboratories in public hospitals in the Spanish National Health System. Material and methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among health workers employed in the clinical laboratories of 27 public hospitals in 2012. The participants were recruited by the heads of service at each of the participating centers. Stratified analyses were performed to assess the mean score, standardized to a base of 100, of the six survey factors, together with the overall patient safety score. Results: 740 completed questionnaires were received (88% of the 840 issued). The highest standardized scores were obtained in Area 1 (individual, social and cultural) with a mean value of 77 (95% CI: 76-78), and the lowest ones, in Area 3 (equipment and resources), with a mean value of 58 (95% CI: 57-59). In all areas, a greater perception of patient safety was reported by the heads of service than by other staff. Conclusions: We present the first multicentre study to evaluate the culture of clinical safety in public hospital laboratories in Spain. The results obtained evidence a culture in which high regard is paid to safety, probably due to the pattern of continuous quality improvement. Nevertheless, much remains to be done, as reflected by the weaknesses detected, which identify areas and strategies for improvement.