Safety Culture Data.2024

Background: The aim of this study is to analyze the temporal trend of patient safety culture within a network of private hospitals in Brazil, while also evaluating the relationship between safety culture and the hospital accreditation process.
Method: A retrospective study was carried out through the application of the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC) questionnaire and distributed to 68 hospitals from 2014 to 2022 with a total of 259,268 responders. The analyzed hospitals were classified as accredited (AH) or non-accredited (NAH).
Findings: Eleven dimensions of HSOPSC significantly improved over an 8-year period, except for the frequency of reported events, which remained unchanged over time. Two dimensions had less than 50% of positivity “communication openness” (47.13% [38.19 - 58.73]) and “nonpunitive response to errors” (41.24% [34.13 - 51.98]). AH demonstrated an increase in the safety culture across 11 dimensions, except for the frequency of reported events, which remained unchanged. In NAH, the frequency of reported events decreased over time and the remaining dimensions showed no significant change.
Interpretation: These results suggest that patient safety culture improved in this network of private hospitals from 2013 to 2022. Accreditation has been a tool that has fostered a culture of safety over time. Non-accredited hospitals tended to decrease the number of reported adverse events, which suggests underreporting and missed opportunities for healthcare system improvement through adverse event analysis.