PATIENT SAFETY CULTURE AMONG MEDICAL LABORATORY TECHNOLOGISTS IN TRANSFUSION MEDICINE SERVICES: A MULTICENTRE STUDY.

Background: A positive patient safety culture enhances the safety outcomes of the organisation. There is a need to highlight issues on patient safety in clinical laboratory settings, as unsafe transfusion practices expose patients to the risk of adverse transfusion reactions and infection transmission. Moreover, attention is lacking on allied health practitioners, especially the medical laboratory technologists (MLTs). This study aims to evaluate the patient safety culture among MLTs. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study that was conducted from October until November 2020 in all public hospitals in Malaysia. We used the validated version of the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC). The inclusion criteria were all MLTs in all public hospitals involved in transfusion medicine services in their daily work and during oncalls. MLTs who were only involved with mobile support blood banks and those from the National Blood Centre were excluded. Result: Out of 132 public hospitals, 80 public hospitals participated (60.6%), with 454 eligible responses. "Organisational learning - continuous improvement", "Supervisor/manager expectation and actions promoting patient safety", "Teamwork within units", and "Feedback and communication about error" were shown to be areas of strength. Meanwhile, "Staffing" and "Non-punitive response to errors" were composites of areas that needed improvement. Conclusion: In conclusion, this study revealed two composites needing improvement. This gives managers and policymakers a basis for further investigation and implementation of improvement strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]