Why is patient safety so hard in low-income countries? A qualitative study of healthcare workers’ views in two African hospitals (February 2015)

Summary

The views of practitioners at the sharp end of health care provision are now recognised as a valuable source of intelligence that can inform efforts to improve patient safety in high-income countries. Yet despite growing policy emphasis on patient safety in low-income countries, little research examines the views of practitioners in these settings. We aimed to give voice to how healthcare workers in two East African hospitals identify and explain the major obstacles to ensuring the safety of patients in their care.

This study, published in Globalization and Health, involved in-depth, face to face interviews with healthcare workers in two East African hospitals. Authors conclude that though the impact of resource constraints and weak governance structures are particularly marked in low-income countries, the congruence between accounts of health workers in diverse settings suggest that the origins and solutions to patient safety problems are likely to be similar everywhere and are rooted in human factors, resources, culture and behaviour.