[Patient safety in real time at covid-19 units in Region Jönköping County]

The adaptation of the healthcare needed in the covid-19 pandemic poses challenges to patient safety. Proactive patient safety work must continue even under conditions such as a pandemic. Methods are needed that assess and support patient safety as the work is carried out. Patient safety in real time appears to be such a useful method in which patient record review to identify patient harm is combined with interviews with patients and healthcare staff. The method was used in wards and intensive care units (ICU) for covid-19 patients in Region Jönköping County. Patient harm was found in ICU care. Patients were overall satisfied with the care, and in the interviews with healthcare staff areas for improvement were identified. Valid indicators for patient record review to evaluate patient harm in covid-19 need to be developed. To judge if patient harm in care of a Covid-19 is avoidable or not is difficult since the level of knowledge and treatment principles in the disease develops very fast.