The COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impact on Patient Safety Incidents at a University Hospital: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Background:The main reason for submitting safety incident reports at medical institutions is to prevent serious medical accidents. Even during novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, it is necessary to prevent serious medical accidents, so it is important to submit incident reports, analyze contributing factors, and work to prevent recurrence. Methods:We conducted a retrospective study of patient safety incidents reported by the Fukuoka University Hospital in Fukuoka City, Japan, and examined the changes in safety incident reports during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results:The main findings were as follows. First, the number of patient safety incidents reported per 10,000 patients during the pandemic tended to be higher than that of pre-pandemic period, and this trend was considered to be desirable. Second, during the peak of COVID-19 waves and just after the waves, the number of reported incidents decreased. Third, the number of incidents involving drug or blood transfusion and the number of monthly incidents of level 1 or 2 gradually decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions:The COVID-19 pandemic affected the contents and levels of reported incidents. Overall, the number of incident reports increased slightly during the pandemic compared to that before the pandemic, although not significantly, probably because medical staff were well informed and focused.