Quality of care and patient safety at healthcare institutions: quantitative study of the perspectives of patients and healthcare assistants
Main Article Content
Keywords
.
Abstract
The healthcare landscape has evolved significantly yet concerns about declining levels of patient safety and quality culture persist, as highlighted in a recent Quality and Patient Safety Report. This underscores the importance of evaluating care quality and patient safety through the lenses of patients and healthcare assistants.
Objectives: This study aimed to explore (1) patients’ and healthcare assistants’ perceptions regarding overall care quality and patient safety standards in two tertiary hospitals and (2) the demographic factors associated with these perceptions.
Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, data were gathered via the Revised Humane Caring Scale and Healthcare Professional Core Competency Instrument, assessing overall care quality and patient safety. Surveys were administered to patients (n = 600) and healthcare assistants (nurses and physicians, n = 246) across medical, surgical, and obstetrics/gynaecology departments in two tertiary hospitals between late 2018 and early 2019. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression were employed for data analysis.
Results: A total of 367 patients and 140 healthcare assistants responded, yielding response rates of 61.2% and 56.9%, respectively. Overall, both groups perceived high levels of care quality (patients: M = 4.23, SD = 0.706; assistants: M = 4.36, SD = 0.720) and patient safety (patients: M = 4.22, SD = 0.709; assistants: M = 4.39, SD = 0.675), with assistants rating slightly higher than patients. Hospital variables were associated with care quality (OR = 0.095, 95% CI = 0.016–0.551, p = 0.009) and patient safety (OR = 0.153, 95% CI = 0.027–0.854, p = 0.032) among assistants. Admission/work area was also linked to participants’ care quality perceptions (patients, OR = 0.257, 95% CI = 0.072–0.916, p = 0.036; assistants, OR = 0.093, 95% CI = 0.009–0.959, p = 0.046).
Conclusions: Both patients and healthcare assistants viewed care quality and patient safety favorably, albeit with slight variations, suggesting high levels of satisfaction and competent healthcare delivery. These insights can guide enhancements in healthcare standards, benefiting patients and healthcare systems alike
References
Institute of Medicine. (2011). The future of nursing: leading change, advancing health. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
2.
Salih, S. A., Adbelkader Reshia, F. A., Bashir, W. A. H., Omar, A. M., & Ahmed, E. S. (2021). Patient safety attitude and associated factors among nurses at Mansoura University Hospital: a cross-sectional study. International Journal of Africa Nursing Sciences, 14, 100287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijans.2021.100287.
3.
World Health Organization. (2021). Patients for patient safety. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/patientsafety/patients_for_patient/en/
4.
Al-Mandhari, A., Al-Farsi, S., Al-Barwani, S., Al-Salmani, N., Al-Rabhi, S., Al-Saidi, S., ... & Al-Adawi, S. (2018). Developing patient safety system using WHO tool in hospitals in Oman. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 30(6), 423–428. https://doi.org/10.1093/intqhc/mzy050
5.
Al Khamisi, Y. N., Khan, M. K., & Munive-Hernandez, J. E. (2018). Assessing quality management system at a tertiary hospital in Oman using a hybrid knowledge-based system. International Journal of Engineering Business Management, 10, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/1847979018797006
6.
Ministry of Health. (2021). Directorate General of Quality Assurance Center. Retrieved from https://www.moh.gov.om/en/web/directorate-quality-assurance-center/introduction
7.
World Health Organization. Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean. (2017). Country cooperation strategy for WHO and Oman 2018-2022. Muscat. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/259861
8.
World Health Organization. (2012). World Health Statistics. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/gho/publications/world_health_statistics/EN_WHS2012_Full.pdf
9.
Ministry of Health. (2016). Quality and Patient Safety: Health Vision 2050. Muscat: Ministry of Health.
10.
Cave, E. (2020). Selecting treatment options and choosing between them: delineating patient and professional autonomy in shared decision-making. Health Care Analysis, 28(1), 4–24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10728-019-00384-8
11.
European Commission. (2019). Defining value in "value-based healthcare". Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/health/sites/health/files/expert_panel/docs/024_defining-value-vbhc_en.pdf
12.
Konrad, T. R., Link, C. L., Shackelton, R. J., Marceau, L. D., Knesebeck, O., Siegrist, J., ... & McKinlay, J. B. (2010). It’s about time: physicians’ perceptions of time constraints in primary care medical practice in three national healthcare systems. Medical Care, 48(2), 95–100. https://doi.org/10.1097/MLR.0b013e3181c12e6a
13.
Papp, R., Borbas, I., Dobos, E., Bredehorst, M., Jaruseviciene, L., Vehko, T., ... & Ensuring Safety and Quality in Primary Health Care Project Team. (2014). Perceptions of quality in primary health care: perspectives of patients and assistants based on focus group discussions. BMC Family Practice, 15(128), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2296-15-128
14.
Mold, J. W., Lawler, F., Schauf, K. J., & Aspy, C. B. (2012). Does patient assessment of the quality of the primary care they receive predict subsequent outcomes?: An Oklahoma, Physicians Resource/Research Network (OKPRN) study. Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 25(4), e1–e12. https://doi.org/10.3122/jabfm.2012.04.120106
15.
Berchtold, P., Kunzi, B., & Busato, A. (2011). Differences of the quality of care experience: the perception of patients with either network or conventional health plans. Family Practice, 28(4), 406–413. https://doi.org/10.1093/fampra/cmr010
Article Sidebar
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
All articles published in JPTCP are licensed under Copyright Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.