Factors associated with Drug Safety Standards in Government Hospitals Under the Office of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Public Health in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, Thailand

Abstract

Drug safety is a critical issue for quality of care in hospitals. This correlational analytical study aimed to compare the implementation levels of 15 drug safety standards between large and small hospitals, and to analyze the relationship between the number of pharmaceutical personnel and drug safety standard scores among 23 hospitals under the Permanent Secretary Office, Ministry of Public Health in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province during fiscal year 2024, using a census survey approach. Data informants were heads of pharmaceutical departments or responsible pharmacists. The research instrument was the Ministry of Public Health’s 15-domain hospital drug safety standard assessment tool. Data analysis employed Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman’s rank correlation. Large hospitals averaged 335,189 patient visits per year compared to 83,800 visits for small hospitals (p-value < 0.05), with an average of 23 and 6 pharmacists, respectively. Large hospitals scored significantly higher (p-value < 0.05) in 4 domains: inpatient pharmaceutical care, adverse drug reaction monitoring, drug production and preparation, and pharmaceutical inventory management. The number of pharmacists showed significant positive correlation with 5 drug safety standard domains (rs > 0.3 and p-value < 0.05): inpatient pharmaceutical care, adverse drug reaction monitoring, drug selection and procurement, and pharmaceutical inventory management. Hospital size and number of pharmaceutical personnel were associated with drug safety standards, particularly in adverse drug reaction monitoring, drug production and preparation, pharmaceutical inventory management, and inpatient pharmaceutical care. The study findings can be applied for capacity development and pharmaceutical personnel allocation to enhance drug safety systems in public hospitals.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​