Patient Safety in Primary Health Care: a look at the literature

Abstract

Concerns about patient safety have been growing around the world, being a dimension of the quality of care. The theme in primary health care (PHC) is on the rise and aims to reduce unnecessary risks to patients throughout health care. The objective of this study is to analyze the fundamental aspects related to patient safety in PHC. This is an integrative review of the literature on patient safety, carried out in August/2021 in all VHL, Cinahl, Scielo, Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science databases. 31 articles published from 2005 to the present day, from 14 different countries participated. The results were organized into three thematic categories: safety incidents, safety culture and patient safety assessment instruments, revealing that the prevention of safety incidents permeates the structural, procedural, training and culture components, which need to be constantly monitored. and strengthened by management, healthcare staff and patients. Many actions to strengthen patient safety are feasible to be carried out and do not impact new work demands for the health team. Patient safety indicators in PHC need to be improved, making them representative and enabling the construction of instruments and subsequent evaluation. It is suggested to expand studies on this topic due to its importance during health care.