Identifying Patient Safety and The Healthcare Environment in Puntland, Somalia

Abstract: Independent on where in the world one is, patient safety is regarded as one of the most important aspects in the healthcare industry. On the contrary, depending on where you are, the patient safety will differ and is therefore location dependent. The patient safety in a developing country will therefore be evaluated in a different way compared to a developed country. This study, therefore aimed to identify the patient safety in Puntland, Somalia and with it, its healthcare environment in the hospitals. The goal was to identify the main factors that affected the patient safety. To investigate this, a field study to the region of interest was made and subsequently interviews with staff at the site were conducted as well as observations in the concerned hospitals. The obtained results were analysed using the method of Qualitative Content Analysis. At a later stage, the results could be thematized into four categories; “​Need​”, “​Device​”, “​Training​” and “​Knowledge​”, which pinpointed the main issues. The study show that there was a common transversal issue of a inherent lack of devices, training and knowledge which in turn could severely affect the patients and their safety in ways such as misdiagnosis, delayed treatment and in worst cases death. Furthermore, it was evident that rather than the lack of actual devices, the absence of knowledge was more prevalent.