Evaluation of patient safety culture practice amongst pharmacy staff in secondary and tertiary Hospitals in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Patient medical and medication safety is of paramount interest and one of the major goals of quality healthcare delivery system. The study evaluates patient safety culture amongst pharmacy staff in tertiary and secondary hospitals in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria.
Data was obtained by administering a validated patient safety questionnaire developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), AHRQ data and analytical tool and GraphPad Prism 6. Fisher’s exact tests were used to compare the items and composite measure results between UBTH and Central Hospital. A composite score of ≥ 75% was seen as areas of strength, while score of less than 50% indicates areas requiring improvement. The results were considered significant at P < 0.05. Teamwork had the highest positive responses for both healthcare facilities, with PSC scores of 84% and 95% respectively for UBTH and Central Hospital (P = 0.0192). Reporting patient safety errors, also shows a statistically significant difference (P = < 0.0001) and a positive score of (65%), and (23%) for UBTH and Central Hospital. Only Central hospital scored above 75% in areas of communication openness (81.3%), organization learning continuous improvement (78.3%), communication about errors (78.3%), and handoffs and information exchange (78.3%). The positive ratings of UBTH and Central Hospital were 58% and 75%, respectively.
The overall patient safety culture practiced in both hospitals is obviously good. There is higher ‘teamwork’ amongst pharmacy staff in Central Hospital, while UBTH staff showed better patient ‘safety error reporting. The composite measure averages show that both healthcare facilities have the potential for improvement.