The patient's "story": an examination of patient-reported safety incidents in general practice

Patient safety incidents (PSIs) are typically studied through engagement with healthcare providers, without input from patients despite their privileged viewpoint of care experiences.

To examine the potential of the patient viewpoint as a lens for future safety improvement initiatives, by: (i) collecting and analysing patients' accounts of PSIs; and (ii) comparing patient and clinician perceptions of PSIs.

Firstly, Critical Incident Technique (CIT) interviews were used to obtain rich descriptions of PSIs, which were then condensed into patient stories. Deductive content analysis was used to code the safety deficiencies described in patient stories using patient-derived safety categories. Secondly, General Practitioners (GPs) and patients individually rated the perceived severity and likelihood of each story.

A total of 32 eligible patient stories were obtained from 25 interviews. Stories commonly described deficiencies related to communication, staff performance, and compassion/dignity/respect. There were significant differences in GP (n = 14) and patient (n = 11) severity and likelihood ratings. GPs were significantly more likely to consider stories to be a lower severity, and occurring with a lower frequency than patients.

Elicitation of the patient perspective using the CIT allowed for the rich description of safety deficiencies that occur in general practice. Given that patients bring a unique and important viewpoint on safety, there is a need to make greater efforts to include the patient perspective of safety in healthcare.