Understanding and attitudes towards patient safety concepts in obstetrics.

OBJECTIVES

To measure attitudes of health personnel towards patient safety, and to determine how the concept of patient safety varies between maternal health centers and types of health care personnel.

METHODS

A cross-sectional descriptive study included 35 primary heath centers in three governorates in Egypt. The subjects comprised all managers, physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and technicians.

RESULTS

The overall mean for all questions and respondents was 3.89+/-0.59 (scale 1-5). The safety climate mean was 3.64+/-0.67. The percentage of respondents viewing the safety climate as positive was 36%. Only 7% of respondents had received feedback after referral of a case of severe pre-eclampsia.

CONCLUSION

The concept of patient safety in the centers studied is not as strong as desirable for the provision of reliable health care. The culture is one of a penalizing nature with suppressed error reporting, lack of proper communication, and feedback failure.