Ethnic inequalities in patient safety in Dutch hospital care

This thesis shows the first results of Dutch studies on the relation between ethnicity and patient safety.
We used mixed methods to identify patient safety outcomes and patient safety risks in a cohort study in 4 urban hospitals among 763 Dutch patients and 576 ethnic minority patients. In a record review and questionnaire study, we found that ethnic minority patients were not at increased risk of adverse events while receiving care in Dutch hospitals. Healthcare providers seem to have responded effectively to specific patient care needs, but we do not know whether this occurred in an ad hoc or in a systematic way. In a qualitative study we found that relatives of hospitalized ethnic minority patients took upon themselves the role of the interpreter, the patient, and the care provider which can have both a positive or negative effect on patient safety. In a mixed methods study we found several situations in hospital care where a language barrier threatened patient safety, that a language barrier was often not documented in the patient record, and that professional interpreters were hardly consulted in daily hospital care.
Are there ethnic inequalities in patient safety in Dutch hospital care? No, we did not find ethnic inequalities in patient safety outcomes (adverse events) in Dutch hospitals with ethnically diverse populations. However, we did find increased patient safety risks for ethnic minorities and thus patient safety of ethnic minorities deserves a place on the healthcare agenda.