Patient safety culture in primary care: developing a theoretical framework for practical use

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Patient Safety
• Organizational Culture

Background:

• Engaging frontline healthcare staff with safety culture is challenging.
• A meaningful and accessible approach is needed to improve patient safety.
• Understanding safety culture is crucial for healthcare organizations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and test a framework for understanding safety culture in primary care.
• To make the concept of safety culture accessible to managers and frontline staff.
• To facilitate discussions on improving team and organizational safety culture.

Main Methods:

• Literature review and expert survey to identify safety culture dimensions in primary care.
• Semi-structured interviews with clinicians and managers.
• Face validity and utility assessment through interviews and focus groups.

Main Results:

• Identified nine dimensions of safety culture in primary care organizations.
• Developed organizational descriptions for five levels of maturity for these dimensions.
• The framework conceptualizes patient safety culture as multidimensional and dynamic, with high face validity and utility.

Conclusions:

• The framework operationalizes staff values to create a safer patient care environment.
• It moves beyond rhetoric to practical understanding of safety culture.
• Enhances understanding and promotes discussion on safety culture maturity in healthcare teams.