Assessment of patient safety culture in Moroccan primary health care: a multicentric study

Background: Promoting patient safety is a critical concern for developing-countries health systems like Morocco. There is an increasing acknowledgment of the need to create a patient-centered culture with the aim to decrease the number of adverse events related to care and improve health-care quality in Morocco.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of health professionals working in primary care level of care facilities in Morocco about the concept of patient safety culture.

Methods: We conducted a multicentric cross-sectional study of a quantitative nature in primary healthcare facilities in ten Moroccan cities, measuring ten patient safety culture dimensions, from February 2022 to June 2022. Data was collected using the French version of the HSOPSC questionnaire.

Results: The most developed dimension of the culture of patient safety was found to be Teamwork within Units (69%), followed by Supervisor/Manager's Expectations & Actions Promoting Patient Safety (59%). The least developed dimensions were Staffing (34%) and Nonpunitive Response to Errors (37%).

Conclusion: Improving patient safety culture should be a priority for primary healthcare facility administrators and all stakeholders, addressing, in particular, the shortage of human resources. In addition, health personnel should be encouraged to report errors without fear of punitive consequences.