Developing a patient measure of safety (PMOS)

Area of Science:

• Healthcare safety research
• Patient experience studies
• Qualitative research methods

Background:

• High-risk industries utilize tools to proactively identify accident contributors.
• Existing hospital feedback mechanisms lack patient-reported safety incident factors.
• The Yorkshire Contributory Factors Framework (YCFF) provides a basis for identifying safety factors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine which YCFF contributory factors patients can identify in a hospital setting.
• To develop a Patient Measure of Safety (PMOS) based on patient-identified factors.
• To enhance understanding of patient perspectives on healthcare safety.

Main Methods:

• Conducted 33 qualitative interviews with hospital patients across six units.
• Used both unstructured and structured interview approaches to gather patient experiences.
• Coded patient responses using the YCFF and tested the draft PMOS for face validity with patients and professionals.

Main Results:

• Patients identified 13 out of 20 contributory factors from the YCFF.
• Communication and individual factors were most frequently identified by patients.
• Patients identified 'dignity and respect' as a novel safety factor not in the YCFF.

Conclusions:

• Patients are capable of identifying factors crucial to their care safety.
• The PMOS offers a systematic method for assessing patient-identified safety concerns.
• The PMOS can empower healthcare organizations to implement service improvements based on patient feedback.