Improving responses to safety incidents: we need to talk about justice

The promotion of a ‘just culture’ features prominently in patient safety research and policy. This has come about, in part, from a recognition that a so-called ‘blame culture’ discourages openness and learning.1 It also reflects a growing understanding that people caught up in safety events (patients, their families and healthcare staff) can experience feelings of sadness, guilt and anger, and need to be treated fairly and sensitively. Despite this growing understanding, there remain significant difficulties in listening to and involving patients and families in the organisational responses to safety incidents,2–4 and for healthcare staff, a blame culture often persists.5 These, in turn, lead to a sense of sustained unfairness, unresponsiveness and secondary harm. Yet, despite aspirations for a ‘just culture’, the idea of justice itself is rarely discussed explicitly or in depth. We contend that part of the ongoing...

Source: Quality and Safety in Health Care - March 17, 2022 Category: Health Management Authors: Cribb, A., O'Hara, J. K., Waring, J. Tags: Open access Viewpoints Source Type: research