Safety Culture in Irish Community Pharmacies
Patient safety culture in community pharmacies is a critical aspect of healthcare management. This study assesses safety culture among Irish pharmacists using the Community Pharmacy Survey on Patient Safety Culture. Results highlight strengths and areas for improvement in ensuring safe medication practices and quality care delivery in community pharmacy settings.
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Presentation Transcript
Safety Culture in Irish Community Pharmacies: a cross- sectional study using the Community Pharmacy Survey on Patient Safety Culture Edwin Wixted, Laura Gleeson, Ois n Kavanagh, Margaret Bermingham School of Pharmacy, University College Cork
Background Patient safety culture is the product of individual and group values, attitudes, perceptions, competencies, and patterns of behaviour that determine the commitment to, and the style and proficiency of, an organisation s health and safety management Less research on patient safety culture in community pharmacy than in secondary care pharmacy settings
Community Pharmacy Survey on Patient Safety Culture Increasing use as research tool since 2016, primarily in Asia and Middle East Highest positive responses are for the dimensions of teamwork and patient counselling Lowest positive responses for staffing, work pressure, and pace 85% rate their community pharmacy setting as excellent, very good or good for overall patient safety culture. No Irish or European data
Methods 40 Likert scale questions in 5 sections / 11 dimensions Demographics Free-text comments Emailed to 3943 community pharmacists, Nov 2021. The positive rate response (% PRR) of each question and dimension was calculated % PRR is the mean percentage of positive Likert scale responses to each item and each dimension.
Results Completed by 173 pharmacists, response rate 4.4%.
Results High scoring individual statements Our pharmacists tell patients important information about their new prescriptions Staff are treated fairly when they make mistakes When a mistake happens, we try to figure out what problems in the work process led to the mistake % PRR 91.3 87.3 86.7 Low scoring individual statements Interruptions/distractions in this pharmacy (from phone calls, faxes, customers, etc.) make it difficult for staff to work accurately We feel rushed when processing prescriptions % PRR 6.4 8.1
Results How do you rate this pharmacy on patient safety? All respondents (n=173) 17.9 43.9 26.6 8.1 3.5 Superintendent pharmacist (n=33) 36.4 39.4 24.2 0 0 Supervising pharmacist (n=65) 14.1 43.8 35.9 6.3 Pharmacist (n=53) 13.2 49.1 20.8 13.2 3.8 Locum pharmacist (n=22) 13.6 36.4 18.2 13.6 18.2 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Excellent Very Good Good Fair Poor
Results Attitude to safety culture Most pharmacists don t pay enough attention to how to prevent dispensing errors until something happens. Distractions like pharmacists trying to do vaccines and then coming back in checking prescriptions causes a stressful environment and maybe leads to mistakes being made. Distractions Work environment and staffing We re very aware of best practice but time constraints mean it simply isn t always possible.
Conclusion Pharmacists working in community pharmacy sector in Ireland reported a generally positive safety culture. Low safety culture scores were reported for the dimension of Staffing, Work Pressure, and Pace - supported by thematic analysis of free-text comments. Aligns with international findings. Differences in perception of safety culture observed between pharmacists with differing levels of managerial responsibility.
References 1. What is patient safety culture? Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Published online March 2022. https://www.ahrq.gov/sops/about/patient-safety-culture.html 2. Gleeson LL, McNamara J, Donworth E, et al. Healthcare provider perceptions of safety culture: A multi-site study using the safety attitudes questionnaire. Explor Res Clin Soc Pharm. 2023;9:100228. 3. Gleeson LL, O Brien GL, O Mahony D, Byrne S. Thirst for change in a challenging environment: healthcare providers perceptions of safety culture in a large Irish teaching hospital. Ir J Med Sci. 2022;191(2):607-613. 4. Gleeson LL, Tobin L, O Brien GL, et al. Safety culture in a major accredited Irish university teaching hospital: a mixed methods study using the safety attitudes questionnaire. Ir J Med Sci. 2020;189(4):1171-1178. 5. 2012 Preliminary Comparative Results: Pharmacy Survey on Patient Safety Culture. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; 2012. 6. Kwon KE, Nam DR, Lee MS, Kim SJ, Lee JE, Jung SY. Status of Patient Safety Culture in Community Pharmacy Settings: A Systematic Review. J Patient Saf. 2023;19(6):353-361.
Contact Dr Margaret Bermingham margaret.bermingham@ucc.ie @margbermingham
