De Wet C., Spence W., Mash R., Johnson P., Bowie P.
National Health Service Education for Scotland, Glasgow, United Kingdom; University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom; Family Medicine and Primary Care, University of Stellenbosch, Cape Town, South Africa; Robertson Centre for Biostatistics, Glasgow, United Kingdom; National Health Service Education for Scotland, 2 Central Quay, Glasgow G3 8BW, United Kingdom
De Wet, C., National Health Service Education for Scotland, Glasgow, United Kingdom, National Health Service Education for Scotland, 2 Central Quay, Glasgow G3 8BW, United Kingdom; Spence, W., University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom; Mash, R., Family Medicine and Primary Care, University of Stellenbosch, Cape Town, South Africa; Johnson, P., Robertson Centre for Biostatistics, Glasgow, United Kingdom; Bowie, P., National Health Service Education for Scotland, Glasgow, United Kingdom
Introduction: Building a safety culture is an important part of improving patient care. Measuring perceptions of safety climate among healthcare teams and organisations is a key element of this process. Existing measurement instruments are largely developed for secondary care settings in North America and many lack adequate psychometric testing. Our aim was to develop and test an instrument to measure perceptions of safety climate among primary care teams in National Health Service for Scotland. Method: Questionnaire development was facilitated through a steering group, literature review, semistructured interviews with primary care team members, a modified Delphi and completion of a content validity index by experts. A cross-sectional postal survey utilising the questionnaire was undertaken in a random sample of west of Scotland general practices to facilitate psychometric evaluation. Statistical methods, including exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and Cronbach and Raykov reliability coefficients were conducted. Results: Of the 667 primary care team members based in 49 general practices surveyed, 563 returned completed questionnaires (84.4%). Psychometric evaluation resulted in the development of a 30-item questionnaire with five safety climate factors: Leadership, teamwork, communication, workload and safety systems. Retained items have strong factor loadings to only one factor. Reliability coefficients was satisfactory (α=0.94 and π=0.93). Discussion This study is the first stage in the development of an appropriately valid and reliable safety climate measure for primary care. Measuring safety climate perceptions has the potential to help primary care organisations and teams focus attention on safetyrelated issues and target improvement through educational interventions. Further research is required to explore acceptability and feasibility issues for primary care teams and the potential for organisational benchmarking.
article; female; human; interview; literature; male; national health service; organization; primary health care; psychometry; questionnaire; safety; United Kingdom; Female; Humans; Interviews as Topic; Male; Organizational Culture; Primary Health Care; Psychometrics; Questionnaires; Review Literature as Topic; Safety Management; Scotland; State Medicine