ABSTRACT

Objective:

To evaluate the perception of the patient safety climate in primary health care associated with professional categories, health centers, and previous experience of participation in the National Program for the Improvement of Access and Quality of Primary Care.

Method:

Cross-sectional study with 119 health professionals in a city in the interior of the state of São Paulo, between August 2019 and February 2020, using the Brazilian version of the Primary Care Safety Questionnaire.

Results:

The safety climate was favorable, with better evaluation for communication and leadership and worse evaluation for workload. There were differences among health centers regarding teamwork (p=0.0010), workload (p=0.0001) and total score (p=0.0185). Professionals with previous experience participating in the improvement program have a better perception of the climate.

Conclusion:

The perception of climate did not differ between professional categories but differed between health centers.

Descriptors:
Organizational culture; Patient safety; Primary health care; National health strategies; Patient care team