Developing patient safety system using WHO tool in hospitals in Oman

OBJECTIVE: Oman is progressively implementing the Patient Safety Friendly Hospital Initiative (PSFHI), a tool formulated by the World Health Organization (WHO) to achieve optimal patient safety in hospitals. This paper describes its implementation in selected government and private hospitals in Oman and analyses the performance of four hospitals whose implementations of PSFHI were assessed by WHO.

DESIGN: The PSFHI initiative was launched in 11 hospitals in Oman during 2016. The enrolled hospitals implemented a 1-year plan composed of several steps such as formation of steering committees, working groups, full orientation about the standards, training of staff, documents development and community involvement. One year later, four hospitals which were the earliest to join the initiative were subjected to WHO assessment.

SETTING: Secondary level government and private hospitals.

INTERVENTION(S): The WHO-PSFHI standards.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Hospitals' adherence to the standards.

RESULTS: Three of the four hospitals (one government and two private) scored level two. One government hospital scored level three, earning it the distinction of being the first hospital in the Eastern Mediterranean Region to reach level three in the very first assessment.

CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of PSFHI in selected hospitals of Oman had successful outcomes in improving patient's safety.