ABSTRACT
Introduction: The recent COVID-19 pandemic tested the resilience of health systems, with potential impact on safety culture.
Aim: To assess patient safety culture in a Greek tertiary hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Material – Methods: A cross-sectional study with the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC) version 1.0. was conducted during the spring of 2022.
Results: The overall level of patient safety was moderate to good and was mainly predicted by adverse event reporting frequency, management support for safety, and overall safety perception. «Collaboration and teamwork within hospital departments» and «supervisors’/ managers’ expectations and actions regarding patient safety» scored the highest, while «staffing» the lowest.
Conclusions: The pandemic magnified preexisting problematic issues, like shortage of staff, but also had a positive impact by enabling reinforcement of cooperation among health workers and jointed actions regarding patient safety. Building on the lessons learnt in patient safety in the post- COVID-19 era is a global challenge.
Keywords: healthcare professionals, hospital, HSOPSC, patient safety culture
