Journal of Clinical & Experimental Pharmacology

Patient safety culture at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), Doha, Qatar

5^th International Conference and Exhibition on Pharmacology and Ethnopharmacology

March 23-25, 2017 Orlando, USA

Rajvir Singh, A Dijkstra, D Steward, Moza H Al Hail, P V Abdulrouf, B Thomas, C Ryan, J Mclay, K L Wilbur, A Awaisu, K Maclure, K J Wilby and W M El Kassem

Qatar Cardiovascular Research Center, Qatar

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Clin Exp Pharmacol

Abstract:

Introduction: Unsafe medication practice and medication errors are a leading cause of patient safety incidents across the world. Patient safety culture is an essential element of universal health coverage and affects the sustainability of a health care system through decreasing errors providing an optimal service. Many publications on patient safety exist but the organizational climate within Qatar has not been studied and can be compared to other non-Western countries where a few studies have been done. Patient safety can be defined as the avoidance and prevention of patient injuries or adverse events resulting from the process of health care delivery. Aim: The aim of this study is to describe patient safety culture at HMC Qatar. Design/Method: A validated questionnaire was used to conduct a web-based cross-sectional survey amongst health professionals; doctors, nurses and pharmacists in HMC. HMC includes seven different hospitals in Doha Qatar. The start date was Feb 2015 to July 2016. Study was approved by IRB, Medical Research Center, HMC, Doha, Qatar and funded by the National Priority Research Program (NPRP) cycle 7. Results: A total of 1604 responses were received over the study period. Most responses (67.9%) were received from nurses followed by doctors (13.3%) and pharmacists (12.9%). Around three quarters (70.9%) were female and aged less than 40 years (76.0%) and almost half (48.1%) had more than 10 years of experience as a health professional in secondary care. The percentage agreement (strongly agree and agree) for each statement and the mean percentage agreement for each domains were calculated. Those domains with the lowest levels of agreement were: Non-punitive response to errors (24.0%), staffing (36.2%), communication openness (50.5%), handoffs and transitions (53.1%), supervisor/manager expectations, and actions promoting patient safety (56.5%). The highest levels of agreement were: Organizational learning �?? continuous improvement (85.1%), team working within unit (82.1%) and management support for patient safety (75.4%). Conclusions: Most responses were derived from female nurses comprising of 3/4 of the population aged less than 40 years. Continuous improvement, team working in units and management support were found more prominent factors in patient�??s safety culture.

Biography :

Rajvir Singh is a PhD (Bio-statistics) holder and he is a Sr. Consultant (Bio-statistics) at Heart Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), Doha, Qatar. He is actively involved in research, teaching, consultancy and vast experience in data analysis and results interpretation. He is a Principal Investigator in 4 National Priority Research Program (NPRP) sponsored by Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) worth more than $8 million. He is running two major projects on Organ Donation and Medication error at HMC. He is having 337 peered reviewed publications in international journals to his credit.

Email: rajvir.aiims@gmail.com