PERSPECTIVE article
Front. Health Serv.
Sec. Patient Safety
Volume 5 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frhs.2025.1581516
This article is part of the Research TopicPatient Safety in Low Resource SettingsView all 8 articles
Adverse Event Reporting and Patient Safety: The Role of a Just Culture
Provisionally accepted
- 1The Bank Hospital, Accra, Ghana
- 2Department of Health Systems and Public Health, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
- 3Research on Interventions for Global Health Trabsformation - RIGHT Institute, Accra, Ghana
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Reporting adverse events is essential for ensuring patient safety and fostering a culture of continuous improvement in healthcare. Adverse events, defined as unintended injuries or complications arising from healthcare management, offer crucial insights into systemic weaknesses that, if addressed, can prevent future harm. However, underreporting such events remains a significant challenge, often driven by fear of punitive actions, reputational damage or legal repercussions. To address these concerns and promote a robust reporting culture, healthcare organisations must adopt a just culture by implementing standardised frameworks for evaluating errors and establishing robust reporting systems. A culture that emphasises accountability and learning over punitive measures. Leadership commitment, psychological safety, and fair accountability are foundational to fostering a just culture in healthcare. While each theme presents specific requirements and challenges, their integration is essential for building a resilient and learning-oriented healthcare system.
Keywords: Adverse event, A Just Culture, incident reporting, Patient Safety, Quality care
Received: 22 Feb 2025; Accepted: 04 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Kumah. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Augustine Kumah, The Bank Hospital, Accra, Ghana
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