Högskolan i Skövde

Background: National, regional and local activities to improve patient safety in Sweden have increased over the last decade. There are high ambitions for improved patient safety in Sweden. This study surveyed health care professionals who held key positions in their county council’s patient safety work to investigate their perceptions of the conditions for this work, factors they believe have been most important in reaching the current level of patient safety and factors they believe would be most important for achieving improved patient safety in the future.

Methods: The study population consisted of 218 health care professionals holding strategic positions in patient safety work in Swedish county councils. Using a questionnaire, the following topics were analysed in this study: profession/occupation; number of years involved in a designated task on patient safety issues; knowledge/overview of the county council’s patient safety work; ability to influence this work; conditions for this work; and the importance of various factors for current and future levels of patient safety.

Results: The response rate to the questionnaire was 79%. The conditions that had the highest number of responses in complete agreement were “patients’ involvement is important for patient safety” and “patient safety work has good support from the county council’s management”. Factors that were considered most important for achieving the current level of patient safety were root cause and risk analyses, incident reporting and the Swedish Patient Safety Law. An organizational culture that encourages reporting and avoids blame was considered most important for improved patient safety in the future, closely followed by improved communication between health care practitioners and patients.

Conclusion: Health care professionals with important positions in the Swedish county councils’ patient safety work believe that conditions for this work are somewhat constrained. They attribute the current levels of patient safety to a broad range of factors and believe that many different solutions can contribute to enhanced patient safety in the future, suggesting that this work must be multifactorial.

Background: Sweden has undertaken many national, regional, and local initiatives to improve patient safety since the mid-2000s, but solid evidence of effectiveness for many solutions is often lacking. Nurses play a vital role in patient safety, constituting 71% of the workforce in Swedish health care. This interview study aimed to explore perceived facilitators and barriers influencing patient safety among nurses involved in the direct provision of care. Considering the importance of nurses with regard to patient safety, this knowledge could facilitate the development and implementation of better solutions.

Methods: A qualitative study with semi-structured individual interviews was carried out. The study population consisted of 12 registered nurses at general hospitals in Sweden. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.

Results: The nurses identified 22 factors that influenced patient safety within seven categories: ‘patient factors’, ‘individual staff factors’, ‘team factors’, ‘task and technology factors’, ‘work environment factors’, ‘organizational and management factors’, and ‘institutional context factors’. Twelve of the 22 factors functioned as both facilitators and barriers, six factors were perceived only as barriers, and four only as facilitators. There were no specific patterns showing that barriers or facilitators were more common in any category.

Conclusion: A broad range of factors are important for patient safety according to registered nurses working in general hospitals in Sweden. The nurses identified facilitators and barriers to improved patient safety at multiple system levels, indicating that complex multifaceted initiatives are required to address patient safety issues. This study encourages further research to achieve a more explicit understanding of the problems and solutions to patient safety.

Introduction: Healthcare-associated infection (HAI) surveillance data can be used to estimate the scope, spread and location of infections, monitor trends, evaluate preventive efforts, and improve practices, policy and facility planning. In Sweden, national point prevalence surveys (PPS) have been conducted twice yearly in all county councils since 2008.

Aim: The aim of this study was to identify key obstacles concerning the HAI surveillance process.

Methods: Twenty-two infection control practitioners (ICPs) from all county councils in Sweden were interviewed, using semi-structured interview guides. Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis.

Results: Sixteen types of obstacles pertaining to four surveillance stages were identified. Most obstacles were associated with the first two stages, which meant that the latter stages of this process, i.e. the use of the results to reduce HAI, were underdeveloped. The ICPs observed scepticism towards both the PPS methodology itself and the quality of the HAI data collected in the PPS, which hinders HAI surveillance realising its full potential in Swedish healthcare.

Background: There is widespread recognition of the problem of unsafe care and extensive efforts have been made over the last 15 years to improve patient safety. In Sweden, a new patient safety law obliges the 21 county councils to assemble a yearly patient safety report (PSR). The aim of this study was to describe the patient safety work carried out in Sweden by analysing the PSRs with regard to the structure, process and result elements reported, and to investigate the perceived usefulness of the PSRs as a tool to achieve improved patient safety.

Methods: The study was based on two sources of data: patient safety reports obtained from county councils in Sweden published in 2014 and a survey of health care practitioners with strategic positions in patient safety work, acting as key informants for their county councils. Answers to open-ended questions were analysed using conventional content analysis.

Results: A total of 14 structure elements, 31 process elements and 23 outcome elements were identified. The most frequently reported structure elements were groups devoted to working with antibiotics issues and electronic incident reporting systems. The PSRs were perceived to provide a structure for patient safety work, enhance the focus on patient safety and contribute to learning about patient safety.

Conclusion: Patient safety work carried out in Sweden, as described in annual PSRs, features a wide range of structure, process and result elements. According to health care practitioners with strategic positions in the county councils' patient safety work, the PSRs are perceived as useful at various system levels.

Objective This study aimed to survey health care professionals in Sweden on the factors that they believe have been most important in reaching the current level of patient safety and achieving safer care in the future as well as the characteristics of the county councils that have been the most successful in achieving safe care.

Methods The study population consisted of 222 patient safety officers, that is, health care professionals with strategic positions in patient safety work in the county councils. A postal questionnaire was used for data collection.

Results The survey response rate was 70%. The factors that were considered most important for the current level of patient safety were efforts to reduce the use of antibiotics; Swedish patient safety law; and internal discussions with the county council management, heads of health care units, health care providers, and so on. The factors that were considered most important to achieve safer care in the future were improved communication between health care practitioners and patients, improved organizational culture, improved communication, and patient safety knowledge as a compulsory component of basic education for health care practitioners.

Conclusions Several factors rated highly for achieving the current level of patient safety are part of the government-supported financial incentive plan. Patient safety is attributed to a broad range of factors, and many solutions might contribute to improved patient safety in the future. The most successful county councils are characterized by leadership support for patient safety, well-organized patient safety work, long-term commitment to patient safety, and an organizational culture that is conducive to patient safety.