Page 117 - HA Convention 2015

Service Priorities and Programmes Free Papers

SPP2.7 Staff Empowerment 13:15 Room 221

Investigating Safety Culture of a Rehabilitation Hospital in Hong Kong: A Survey Using Chinese Version Safety Monday, 18 May
Attitude Questionnaire
Lau HMC, Wong SY, Mak YM, Fu CL, Wong SM
Cheshire Home, Shatin, Hong Kong

Introduction

Patient safety is always a concern and has been promoted at many hospital. However, how staff perceives their daily practice
in terms of patient safety is yet to be determined. This survey is attempted to quantify staff safety attitudes as a measure of
patient safety improvement. It also helps to identify potential risks in daily practice. A validated tool, the Chinese version of
Safety Attitude Questionnaire (SAQ-C) was adopted to provide a baseline of staff’s perception of safety. We hypothesised
that safety culture can be enhanced through regular reinforcement of safety activities and communication among staff.

Objectives

To monitor safety attitude, reinforce safety culture and enhance communication between frontline staff and managers
continuously.

Methodology

The SAQ-C survey is a prospective study conducted yearly from 2014 to 2016. All hospital staff fill in the questionnaire on
a voluntary basis. Various kinds of safety culture engagement programmes for staff will be launched as usual. In SAQ-C,
42 items and demographics information in total are required to fill in. 33 of them are specific within the scope of five SAQ
input dimensions, i.e. teamwork climate, safety climate, job satisfaction, management perception and working conditions.
The remaining nine items are used to determine different aspects of output in safety behaviours, e.g. collaboration, safety
training, and adverse events reporting, etc. The answered items are scored by converting a five-point Likert scale to a
100-point scale, Each dimension score can then be calculated through the weighted average of those items within the same
dimension. If the final score is 75 or higher, a positive attitude to a given dimension would be counted. In each phase of
study, the respondent rate, demographic characteristics and distributions of respondents holding positive attitudes toward
each safety dimension will be measured, while the association between each safety dimension and safety behaviour will be
examined by multiple logistic regression models. A pre-post comparison of their mean differences by using simple t-test
(p<0.05) will be made to determine any improvement in specific scoring. Any confounding factors such as gender, age
group, job discipline, etc., will also be examined. Besides, the relationship between the SAQ response rate and each safety
dimension score throughout different phases of study (using Pearson’ correlation) will be explored.

Results

The baseline survey was carried out in early 2014 with a total 197 out of 226 questionnaires (response rate=87.2%) were
collected. The overall mean scores of five SAQ input dimensions were as follows: teamwork climate – 67.4; safety climate –
64.1; job satisfaction – 68.7; management perception – 65.7; working conditions – 62.9. A series of improvement
programmes in patient safety, and enhancement exercise are continued. The change in respondent holding positive attitudes
will be compared in the second phase of study in 2015.

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