Comparative Analysis of Patient Safety Culture Between Private and Public Hospitals Using the Bulgarian Version of HSOPSC - a Web-Based Survey

Abstract

Patient safety is an essential element of healthcare quality and an important component of organizational culture. The aim of the study was to compare patient safety culture between private and public hospitals in Bulgaria using a web-based version of the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 384 healthcare specialists: 206 from public and 152 from private hospitals. Twenty-six of the respondents did not specify the hospital ownership type. The data were exported to SPSS 17.0 statistical software and analyzed with descriptive statistics and non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test. The results showed that private hospitals staff provided higher mean rates to all questionnaire items, except to items: “Staff in this unit work longer hours than is best for patient care”, “We use more agency staff than is best for patient care” and “Whenever pressure builds up, my supervisor wants us to work faster, even if it means taking shortcuts”. The type of hospital ownerships did not seem to affect significantly positive responses given to items: “We use more agency staff than is best for patient care”, “Patient safety is never sacrificed to get more work done”, “Staff worry that mistakes they make are kept in their personnel file”, “My supervisor overlooks patient safety problems that happen over and over” and “Important patient care information is often lost during shift changes”. Significant differences of positive scores distribution were found between patient safety culture in public and private hospital due to the differences in the organizational culture and management style in the two different hospital types.