Authors (including presenting author) :
Chan V, Wong B, Ling M
Affiliation :
Kwong Wah Hospital [KWH] Pharmacy Department
Introduction :
Benchmarking is not just comparing data; it involves zooming in where differences exit, investigating reasons for the differences, and formulating strategies for improvement. It is a powerful tool in quality management. Data provide distinct areas of differences and the magnitude of variation. Data provide trending to monitor improvements. Moreover, with visible figures stake holders tend to be “motivated” to improve their "performance" by catching up with others.
Objectives :
1. To explore the patient safety culture in KWH Pharmacy Department,
2. To examine areas of merits and deficiencies in our safety culture,
3. To benchmark with the cluster and a similar hospital to further highlight our strengths and weaknesses,
4. To set up focus groups to review and improve on our shortfalls.
Methodology :
A patient safety culture survey was conducted among pharmacy departments of all Kowloon Central Cluster (KCC) hospitals and clinics, using the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) questionnaires. The data relevant to KWH is pulled out and analysed. Benchmarking is performed versus another hospital of similar size and function.
Result & Outcome :
The 42 questionnaire items can be consolidated into 12 composites. KWH shows positive scores for most items except 8, indicating an overall positive safety culture. Comparison among the Cluster data shows generally higher scores for smaller hospitals. In view of the diversification of sizes and functions, it is decided to focus our benchmarking with a hospital of similar size and function. For KWH, there are 23 items in which scored lower than the comparison hospital, and 16 with higher scores. Three items shows very similar score. The higher scores mainly occur in the composites of “Frequency of Events Reported”, “Team Work Across Units”, and “Staffing”. The composites which scored worse than the comparison hospital are “Supervisor Expectations and Actions Promoting Patient Safety”, “Communication Openness” and “Non-punitive Response to Error”. The results indicate that while there are good team work and frequent error reporting, staff may have difficulties expressing their concerns about safety issues, and are worried about the personal liability of reporting errors. Focus groups will be formed to review our near miss reporting program to reduce staff concern of personal liability. We would also strengthen our staff relationship to encourage staff to make suggestions and improve listening and acceptance by supervisors.
