Assessment of the Patient Safety Substructures in Selected Teaching Hospitals in the City of Mashhad Based on WHO Protocol

Patient safety is a global concern in the field of health services and an essential component of the quality requirements of health care, so the present study aimed to assess the level of patient safety substructures in three selected Mashhad’s teaching hospitals in 2017.

This Descriptive-Analytical and cross-sectional study was performed using WHO patient safety assessment protocol as a research tool. The study population consisted of senior and middle managers, staff, physicians, and patients of hospitals that a total of 54 sample people were selected by purposeful sampling method. Questionnaire data were collected by observation, review of documents, completion of checklists and structured interviews, and then analyzed through descriptive and analytical tests using version 21 of SPSS software.

In this study, a total of 20 critical patient safety standards were evaluated, the overall average level to achieve the standards was calculated to be 75.8%. Among the four domains studied, the domain of governance and leadership with a ratio (83.3%) had the best and the domains of a safe environment and patient and community participation with a ratio (50%) had the weakest status. There was no statistically significant difference between the three hospitals in terms of the level of compliance with the standards (p <0.05).

In general, the overall situation of patient safety substructure hospitals was evaluated at a relatively good level. The commitment of senior managers to the priority of patient safety, improving staff training, and increasing the informed participation of patients and companions to eliminate weaknesses and improve the current situation, can qualify for the title of patient safety friendly hospital for these hospitals that have a special place in the field of health tourism in the region and country