Perceptions of managerial staff on the patient safety culture at a tertiary hospital in South Africa

Abstract

Background Hospital managers are best suited and located to enhance patient safety culture within their institutions. Aim This study sought to provide insight on the perceptions of 10 managerial staff regarding the patient safety culture at a tertiary academic hospital in South Africa. Method In-depth interviews were conducted with strategic and operational managers within high-risk units in order to determine their perceptions regarding patient safety culture. Findings Participants described diverse aspects of the hospital’s patient safety culture including an overview of patient safety, implementation of patient safety initiatives, challenges to patient safety, current management of patient safety issues, as well as ways to improve the patient safety culture of the hospital. Conclusion The findings highlighted a number of areas to improve on to advance patient safety within the South African context. These include improving basic services, strengthening the infrastructure, improving staff attitudes and implementation of patient safety initiatives. Further research and development of quality improvement plans are essential to enhance patient safety.

Hospital managers’ views on the state of patient safety culture across three regions in Ghana

“…Additionally, our findings are consistent with other studies [ 18 , 27 , 42 ]; our study confirms the ongoing blame culture but further elaborates on circumstances under which managers choose to blame. A United Kingdom study [ 43 ], investigated health professionals’ response to observing their colleagues making errors and found that shouting was often used to disrupt the actions that could lead to adverse events, even though they knew it was not the best response.…”

Healthcare professionals’ perception of knowledge and implementation of Patient Safety Incident Reporting and Learning guidelines in specialised care units, KwaZulu-Natal

“…[11,25] A similar study affirms that principles acquired from safety awareness campaigns and workshops in the hospitals were also not implemented by staff. [7] The study further revealed that healthcare professionals lacked organisational support, patient safety committees, simple incident reporting systems, and adherence to the PSI reporting and learning guidelines. [26,27] Age, current unit, and shift of the day were significantly associated with the perception of poor implementation of the PSI reporting and learning guidelines.…”

“…[6] Abraham et al revealed that current documentation and guidelines relating to patient safety were well known and established within the hospital, but full implementation of these guidelines was lacking. [7] Incorporating guidelines into critical care practice is recognised as a crucial requirement for the optimal care of critically ill patients; [8] however, implementation of guidelines is often insufficient, resulting in frequent poor adherence in specialised critical care units (SCUs). [9,10] In this study, SCUs include critical care and high care units that care for unstable patients with acute, life-threatening illnesses or injuries and involve multiple skills and specialties.…”

Perceived patient safety culture and its associated factors among clinical managers of tertiary hospitals: A cross-sectional survey

“…Several studies have demonstrated that hospital clinical managers hold distinct perceptions of patient safety culture compared to other healthcare providers [18][19][20]. Moreover, some existing evidence suggests that the safety attitudes of clinical managers are generally poor and require improvement [21,22]. Studies have identi ed three in uential factors on patient safety culture: sociodemographics, workrelated factors, and organizational factors [23,24].…”

“…Studies have identi ed three in uential factors on patient safety culture: sociodemographics, workrelated factors, and organizational factors [23,24]. However, there has been a lack of investigation into the underlying factors shaping managers' perceptions [21,22]. Zhang, etc., examined associations between safety attitudes and safety factors among clinical nurse managers using the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire, but research on clinical managers' perceptions of patient safety culture was still limited [21].…”