Physician's perceptions of patient safety culture in public hospitals in Vietnam, a cross-sectional study

Background A strong patient safety culture (PSC) is essential for providing high-quality and safe patient care. An essential step in promoting PSC is to assess physicians’ perceptions of existing hospital PSC. This paper is aimed to assess the physician's perception of PSC in four general public hospitals in Hanoi, Vietnam. Methods In this cross-sectional study, 324 physicians were selected to answer an online validated Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC). Results PSC composites’ average positive response was modest at 67.6% and varied from 48.2% to 88.8%. The composites for improvement are “staffing” (48.2%) and “non-punitive response to error” (48.9%). The most vital areas are “teamwork within units” (88.8%) and “supervisor/manager expectations and actions promoting patient safety” (84.1%). Staff's length of service in the hospital and unit, as well as hospital bed size, were significant predictors of higher patient safety composites. Conclusion Initiatives are needed to enhance error response, personnel, and reporting. A hospital could develop and implement intervention programs to improve patient safety, including providing interventions on teamwork and communication, encouraging employees to report issues, and preventing retaliation.