Evaluation in Primary Care Professionals: The Patient's Safety Culture

摘要

Introduction: Every day, millions of patients are safely and satisfactorily cared for in Primary Care centers (PC), although this care brings with it along a number of risks of involuntary harm or errors. Objectives: To describe the perception of Western Health District professionals in Almería, regarding patient safety based on a translated and validated instrument for primary care services in Spain. Methodology: Transversal descriptive study. A sample of 216 self-completed questionnaires were obtained and sent to the District Quality Sub-Directorate. Statistical analysis was conducted on the characteristics of the responding professionals and the dimensions of the questionnaire. Results: The mean age of the professionals was 48 years and 66.70% were female. Their care activity had been carried out for a mean of 19 years (SD= 9). The main findings regarding aspects such as patient safety and quality have been presented (?= 4.08; IC 95%: 4.00-4.16). The dimensions receiving the worst responses in the Western Health District were “Error communication” (?= 1.97; IC 95%: 1.85-2.09), “Patient care follow up” (?= 1.88; IC 95%: 1.76-1.99), “Clear communication” (?= 2.19; IC 95%: 2.05-2.32) and “Workload and work rhythm” (?= 2.42; IC 95%: 2.29-2.54). Conclusions: Based on the information generated by professionals in Primary Care Centers, these results may allow for the design of patient care improvement strategies in the province of Almería.