The safety climate in primary care (SAP-C) study: study protocol for a randomised controlled feasibility study.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Patient Safety
• Primary Care Research

Background:

• Patient safety research predominantly focuses on secondary care, neglecting primary care despite high service utilization and error potential.
• A significant knowledge gap exists regarding safety culture and improvement strategies within primary care settings.
• This research addresses the need for understanding patient safety in primary care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the effectiveness of a patient safety intervention adapted from the Scottish Patient Safety Programme in Primary Care.
• To evaluate the feasibility of implementing safety climate measurement, feedback, and patient chart audits.
• To prepare for a future definitive randomized controlled trial (RCT).

Main Methods:

• A feasibility study utilizing a randomized controlled pretest-posttest design across 10 general practices in Ireland.
• Intervention group practices received a 9-month safety climate intervention including measurement and feedback.
• Control group practices received usual care; both groups completed safety climate questionnaires and chart audits.

Main Results:

• The study will report process evaluation metrics, including recruitment, retention, and completion rates.
• It will assess patient safety culture changes in both intervention and control groups.
• Instances of undetected patient harm identified via patient chart audit using the trigger review method will be documented.

Conclusions:

• The study investigates an intervention to enhance safety climate in Irish primary care.
• Findings may illuminate the frequency of undetected patient safety incidents in primary care.
• Results could inform improved patient safety practices and future research in primary care settings.