Safety culture at primary healthcare level: A cross-sectional study among employees with a leadership role

Abstract

An effective leadership is critical to the development of a safety culture within an organization. With this study, the authors wanted to assess the self-perceived level of safety culture among the employees with a leadership function in the Ljubljana Community Health Centre. This was a cross-sectional study in the largest community health centre in Slovenia. We sent an invitation to all employees with a leadership role (N=211). The Slovenian version of the SAQ - Short Form as a measurement of a safety culture was used. The data on demographic characteristics (gender, age, role, work experience, working hours, and location of work) were also collected. An electronic survey was used. The final sample consisted of 154 (69.7%) participants, out of which 136 (88.3%) were women. The mean age and standard deviation of the sample was 46.2±10.5 years. The average scores for the safety culture domains on a scale from 1 to 5 were 4.1±0.6 for Teamwork Climate, Safety Climate, and Working Conditions and Satisfaction, 3.7±0.5 for Perception of Management, 3.6±0.4 for Communication, and 3.5±0.6 for Stress Recognition. The safety culture among leaders in primary healthcare organizations in Slovenia is perceived as positive. There is also a strong organizational culture. Certain improvements are needed, especially in the field of communication and stress recognition with regards to safety culture.