Objectives: (1) To describe the epidemiology of patient safety (PS) incidents registered in an electronic notification system in primary care (PC) health centres; (2) to define a risk map; and (3) to identify the critical areas where intervention is needed. Design: Descriptive analytical study of incidents reported from 1 January to 31 December 2018, on the TPSC Cloud™ platform (The Patient Safety Company) accessible from the corporate website (Intranet) of the regional public health service. Setting: 24 Catalan Institute of Health PC health centres of the Tarragona region (Spain). Participants: Professionals from the PC health centres and a Patient Safety Functional Unit. Measurements: Data obtained from records voluntarily submitted to an electronic, standardised and anonymised form. Data recorded: healthcare unit, notifier, type of incident, risk matrix, causal and contributing factors, preventability, level of resolution and improvement actions. Results: A total of 1544 reports were reviewed and 1129 PS incidents were analysed: 25.0% of incidents did not reach the patient; 66.5% reached the patient without causing harm, and 8.5% caused adverse events. Nurses provided half of the reports (48.5%), while doctors reported more adverse events (70.8%; p < 0.01). Of the 96 adverse events, 46.9% only required observation, 34.4% caused temporary damage that required treatment, 13.5% required (or prolonged) hospitalization, and 5.2% caused severe permanent damage and/or a situation close to death. Notably, 99.2% were considered preventable. The main critical areas were: communication (27.8%), clinical-administrative management (25.1%), care delivery (23.5%) and medicines (18.4%); few incidents were related to diagnosis (3.6%). Conclusions: PS incident notification applications are adequate for reporting incidents and adverse events associated with healthcare. Approximately 75% and 10% of incidents reach the patient and cause some damage, respectively, and most cases are considered preventable. Adequate and strengthened risk management of critical areas is required to improve PS.

Patients provide a unique, irreplaceable, and essential perspective in evaluating patient safety. The suite of Patient Reported Experiences and Outcomes of Safety in Primary Care (PREOS-PC) tools are a notable exception to the scarcity of patient-reported patient safety measures. Full evaluation of their performance has only been attempted for the English version, thereby limiting its international applicability. To assess the psychometric performance of the Spanish and Catalan versions of the PREOS-PC-Compact. Cross-sectional validation study. We used Classical Test Theory methods to examine scale score distribution, internal consistency, and construct validity; and Item Response Theory (IRT) methods to further explore construct validity. 3287 patients completed the Spanish version, and 1007 the Catalan version. Similar results were obtained for both versions. Confirmatory Factor Analysis supported a single construct for each scale. The correlations between PREOS-PC-Compact scales and known group analysis suggested adequate construct validity (inconclusive for known groups at the provider level). All four multi-item scales demonstrated adequate internal consistency reliability (α > 0.7), which was only confirmed for test-retest reliability for 'Practice activation.' A sample between 60-90 patients per practice was estimated sufficient to produce scores with reliability > 0.7 for all scales except for harm scales. IRT models showed disordered thresholds for 'Practice activation' and 'Harm burden' but showed excellent fit after reducing the response categories. The Spanish and Catalan versions of the PREOS-PC-Compact are broadly valid and reliable tools to measure patient safety in Spanish primary care centres; confirmation of lower-than-expected test-rest reliability merits further examination .

Analizar y comparar la epidemiologia de los incidentes de seguridad del paciente notificados en centros de atención primaria, antes y después del inicio de la pandemia COVID-19. Estudio descriptivo analítico comparando los incidentes notificados del 01-marzo-2019 al 28-febrero-2020, y del 01-marzo-2020 al 28-febrero-2021, realizados a través de la plataforma TPSC Cloud™ accesible desde la Intranet corporativa en 25 centros de atención primaria del distrito de Tarragona, Cataluña, España. Registros obtenidos a partir de notificaciones voluntarias mediante formulario electrónico, estandarizado y anonimizado. Variables: centro sanitario, profesional, tipo de incidente, matriz de riesgo, factores causales, contribuyentes y evitabilidad. Análisis estadístico: Se realizó análisis descriptivo del total de notificaciones y otro específico de los eventos adversos, comparando ambos períodos. Se notificaron un total de 2.231 incidentes. Comparando ambos períodos, en el de pandemia se observó una reducción del número de incidentes notificados (solo representaron un 20% del total), pero en proporción se incrementó el porcentaje de notificaciones por parte de profesionales sanitarios y el de eventos adversos que requirieron observación. También aumentaron los factores causales relacionados con los cuidados y el diagnóstico, y disminuyeron los de medicación. Además, se observó un incremento de los factores contribuyentes relacionados con el profesional. La evitabilidad fue elevada (>95%) en ambos períodos. Durante la pandemia, se han notificado un menor número de incidentes de seguridad del paciente, pero en proporción, más eventos adversos, siendo en su mayoría evitables. El propio profesional se convierte en el principal factor contribuyente.

Background: Reducing incidents related to health care interventions to improve patient safety is a health policy priority. To strengthen a culture of safety, reporting incidents is essential. This study aims to define a patient safety risk map using the description and analysis of incidents within a primary care region with a prior patient safety improvement strategy organisationally developed and promoted. Methods: The study will be conducted in two phases: (1) a cross-sectional descriptive observational study to describe reported incidents; and (2) a quasi-experimental study to compare reported incidents. The study will take place in the Camp de Tarragona Primary Care Management (Catalan Institute of Health). In Phase 1, all reactive notifications collected within one year (2018) will be analysed; during Phase 2, all proactive notifications of the second and third weeks of June 2019 will be analysed. Adverse events will also be assessed. Phases 1 and 2 will use a digital platform and the proactive tool proSP to notify and analyse incidents related to patient safety. Expected Results: To obtain an up-to-date, primary care patient safety risk map to prioritise strategies that result in safer practices.

The initial APEAS study, conducted in June 2007, examined adverse events (AEs) in Spanish Primary Healthcare (PHC). Since then, significant changes have occurred in healthcare systems. To evaluate these changes, a study was conducted in the Camp de Tarragona PHC region (CTPHC) in June 2019. This cross-sectional study aimed to identify AEs in 20 PHC centres in Camp de Tarragona. Data collection used an online questionnaire adapted from APEAS–2007, and a comparative statistical analysis between APEAS–2007 and CTPHC–2019 was performed. The results revealed an increase in nursing notifications and a decrease in notifications from family doctors. Furthermore, fewer AEs were reported overall, particularly in medication-related incidents and healthcare-associated infections, with an increase noted in no-harm incidents. However, AEs related to worsened clinical outcomes, communication issues, care management, and administrative errors increased. Concerning severity, there was a decrease in severe AEs, coupled with an increase in moderate AEs. Despite family doctors perceiving a reduction in medication-related incidents, the overall preventability of AEs remained unchanged. In conclusion, the reporting patterns, nature, and causal factors of AEs in Spanish PHC have evolved over time. While there has been a decrease in medication-related incidents and severe AEs, challenges persist in communication, care management, and clinical outcomes. Although professionals reported reduced severity, the perception of preventability remains an area that requires attention.

Patient safety reporting and learning systems (PSRLS) are tools to promote patient safety culture in healthcare organisations (HCO). Many PRSLS are locally developed. WHO Global Action Plan on Patient Safety 2021–2030 urges governments to deploy policies for healthcare risk management including PSRLS. The Ministry of Health of Catalonia (MHC) faced challenges in addressing quality and patient safety (Q&PS) issues due to disparate information systems. To address these challenges, the MHC developed a territorial PSRLS and embedded it in the Quality and Patient Safety Strategic Plan of Catalonia 2023–2027 (QPSS Plan Cat). Methods Four-step process: (1) creation of a governance model, a web platform and reporting forms for a PSRLS in Catalonia (SNiSP Cat); (2) SNiSP Cat roll out; (3) embed SNiSP Cat information in the accreditation model for HCO and the PS scorecard; (4) Development of SNiSP Cat within the QPSS Plan Cat 2023–2027. Results The SNiSP Cat is in use by 63/64 acute care hospital (ACH), 376/376 primary healthcare teams (PCT) and 17/98 long-term care facilities (LTCF). 1335/109 273 professionals were trained. Until 2022, 127 051 incidents have been migrated and reported (2013–2022). The system has generated three comprehensive risk maps for HCO: one for ACH, including patients’ falls, medication, clinical process and procedures; second for PCT, including clinical process and procedures, clinical administration and medication; and a third for LTCF, included patients’ falls, medication, digital/analogical documentation. SNiSP Cat provided information to support 53 standards out of 1312 of the ACH accreditation model and 14 standards out of 379 of PCT one. Regarding the MHC patient safety scorecard, 14 indicators out of 147 of ACH and 4 out of 41 of PCT are supported by SNiSP Cat data. Conclusions The availability of a territorial PSRLS (SNiSP Cat) allows MHC leads the Q&PS policy with direct information, risk maps and data support to the standards for the Catalan accreditation models and PS scorecard linked to incentivisation, turning the SNiSP Cat into a driven tool to implement the Quality and Patient Safety Strategic Plan of Catalonia 2023–2027.