Survey reflects need for continued focus on patient safety

By Jack Davis, B.Sc.Jun 15 2005

A survey of Calgary Health Region employees and physicians indicates the Region continues to make progress in improving patient safety, but further action is required to address specific areas of concern such as the reporting of hazards.

“The Region has done a lot to make safety a priority and significant progress has been made,” said Jack Davis, President & CEO, Calgary Health Region. “This survey is an important tool to help determine what actions have made a difference and where we need to focus our efforts so we can continually improve.”

The survey assesses the culture of safety within the Region. A culture of safety is one where safety is top of mind. It is a culture where organizational leadership is visibly committed to safety and frontline employees and physicians feel supported and encouraged to report hazards in the system before there is harm to patients. A similar survey was conducted in 2003. Some highlights include:

In assessing leadership, 65% of employees and 49% of physicians agreed that senior management provides a climate that promotes patient safety, an increase of 7% and 11% respectively over 2003. These increases reflect actions taken by the Region to focus on quality and safety, including the allocation of $7 million to address safety issues in a timely manner and having senior executive and managers visit hospitals and community sites to talk with health care providers about safety.

The survey demonstrates the need to focus on supporting employees to report hazards in the system. In 2003, 69% of employees and physicians agreed with the statement that health care errors often go unreported. Results for 2005 have not changed.

“These results are not unlike those found in studies around the world where it is estimated that only about 10% of adverse events are reported,” said Dr. Ward Flemons, Vice-President, Quality and Safety. “We want to take action to change this in this Region, and although a hazard in the system is usually detected long before it reaches a patient, it is crucial that employees and physicians feel supported to identify a problem so we can learn and make improvements to the system before any harm occurs.”

The Region continues to foster a culture of safety through various initiatives, including the development of policies to encourage reporting and support a just and trusting culture. Consultations with employees and physicians on these draft policies are currently underway. As well, a full review of the Region’s current reporting system has been completed and recommendations received. The Region is committed to making substantial changes to reporting systems and processes to improve effectiveness.

Surveys were sent out to 6500 employees and 2000 physicians. Participation rates were high with 50% of employees and 50% of physicians responding. This is a substantial increase over the 27% and 28% response rates respectively in 2003. Another survey will be conducted in two years.