The patients’ perceptions are central to quality improvement of the healthcare system worldwide. This study aimed to examine patients’ perceptions of quality care and investigate the demographic factors related to the overall patients’ perceptions. The Revised Humane Caring Scale was distributed to 367 adult patients who were admitted at medical, surgical, and obstetrics and gynecology departments in 2 tertiary hospitals in Oman. Overall patients’ perceptions of quality of care were high, with professionalism being rated the highest, and cognition of physical needs and human resources rated the lowest. Significant differences in patients’ perceptions between hospitals as well as in the subscales of interdisciplinary collaboration and outcome variables, between planned- and emergency-admitted patients were found. The linear regression analysis indicated a relationship between gender and overall quality care where male patients reported higher satisfaction compared to counterparts. This study suggested the need to improve the cognition of physical needs (food quality and environmental sanitation) and human resources (staff to patient ratio) as well as pay attention to the individual patients’ needs especially for emergency-admitted patients.

Background Oman’s healthcare system has rapidly transformed in recent years. A recent Report of Quality and Patient Safety has nevertheless highlighted decreasing levels of patient safety and quality culture among healthcare professionals. This indicates the need to assess the quality of care and patient safety from the perspectives of both patients and healthcare professionals. Objectives This study aimed to examine (1) patients’ and healthcare professionals’ perspectives on overall quality of care and patient safety standards at two tertiary hospitals in Oman and (2) which demographic characteristics are related to the overall quality of care and patient safety. Methods A cross-sectional study design was employed. Data were collected by two items: overall quality of care and patient safety, incorporated in the Revised Humane Caring Scale, and Healthcare Professional Core Competency Instrument. Questionnaires were distributed to (1) patients (n = 600) and (2) healthcare professionals (nurses and physicians) (n = 246) in three departments (medical, surgical and obstetrics and gynaecology) at two tertiary hospitals in Oman towards the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression were used for data analysis. Results A total of 367 patients and 140 healthcare professionals completed the questionnaires, representing response rates of 61.2% and 56.9%, respectively. Overall, quality of care and patient safety were perceived as high, with the healthcare professionals rating quality of care (M = 4.36; SD = 0.720) and patient safety (M = 4.39; SD = 0.675) slightly higher than the patients did (M = 4.23; SD = 0.706), (M = 4.22; SD = 0.709). The findings indicated an association between hospital variables and overall quality of care (OR = 0.095; 95% CI = 0.016–0.551; p = 0.009) and patient safety (OR = 0.153; 95% CI = 0.027–0.854; p = 0.032) among healthcare professionals. Additionally, an association between the admission/work area and participants’ perspectives on the quality of care (patients, OR = 0.257; 95% CI = 0.072–0.916; p = 0.036; professionals, OR = 0.093; 95% CI = 0.009–0.959; p = 0.046) was found. Conclusions The perspectives of both patients and healthcare professionals showed that they viewed both quality of care and patient safety as excellent, with slight differences, indicating a high level of patient satisfaction and competent healthcare delivery professionals. Such perspectives can provide meaningful and complementary insights on improving the overall standards of healthcare delivery systems.

Aim:The aim of the study was to examine (1) the perceptions on core competencies of healthcare professionals working at clinical settings in Oman and (2) which demographic characteristics explain the overall core competency.Design: A cross-sectional design.Methods: Healthcare Professional Core Competency Instrument, consisting of 11 sub-scales with 81 items, was distributed to healthcare professionals (n = 1,543; 826 nurses and 717 physicians) who worked at primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare institutions. Descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA and linear regression were used for data analysis.Results: Altogether 1,078 healthcare professionals (628 nurses and 450 physicians) responded representing 70% overall response rate. Healthcare professionals perceived their overall core competence as excellent, safety being the highest, and research and evidence-based practice was the lowest. The multiple linear regression analysis revealed that ethnicity, gender and years of working experience were the characters that explained the overall core competence, where expatriate senior professionals reported higher competency levels compared with counterparts.