Assessing the Perception of Safety Climate in Primary Care Doctors in Bahrain: A Cross Sectional Study

Background: Safety climate is the behavior and perception of health care providers in maintaining a safe environment. The study of safety climate in primary health care was limited. In Bahrain the concept of assessing safety climate were understudied, which drew attention to this important aspect in health care quality to be studied. Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the perception of safety climate practice in primary health care in Bahrain. Methods: This was a cross sectional observational study. A Safety-Tool “Primary Care-Safe Quest” questionnaire was distributed among 28 health centers in Bahrain, to 279 doctors. The questionnaire consists of 30 items that are grouped into five subscales: Workload, Communication, Leadership, Teamwork and Safety system & Learning. Results: There was no significant difference in perception of safety climate in primary care doctors according to region (p=0.753), and work experience (p=0.301). Male doctors had higher perception of workload compared to the female doctors(p=0.039). There was no significant difference in perception in communication, leadership, teamwork, safety system and learning. Workload aspect showed low level of safety perception, while the other domains showed moderate level of safety perception. Conclusion: Overall the perception of safety climate among primary doctors in Bahrain was found to be moderate. Workload was an important area to be improved as it would lead to a better safety climate. Although the other domains were considered moderate there is still room for improvement. Keywords: Communication, Leadership, Perception, Primary Health Care, Workload