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BackgroundThere is a need for improved methodologies on how to longitudinally analyze, interpret and learn from the Surveys on Patient Safety Culture™ (SOPS), developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Typically, SOPS quantify results by the percentage of positive responses, but this approach may miss insights from neutral or negative feedback.Study designThe SOPS were distributed every two years from 2011 to 2022 to all hospital staff at one academic institution from perioperative services. Differences between rates of “positive” and “negative” scores (“Delta”), and “neutral” responses over time were calculated. The coefficient of determination (R2) was used to assess the correlation strength of the positive scores as the primary outcomes provided by the SOPS and Delta values over time. Finally, we evaluated patterns (crossing and converging [indicating “worrisome” patterns] vs. diverging [suggesting “desirable” pattern] vs. stable [suggesting “neutral” pattern]) of the longitudinal scores.ResultsA total of 1,035 responses were analyzed [51 and 40 survey items for SOPS v1 and v2 (2022 only), respectively]. Comparing the R2 values of the positive only scores to the Delta scores demonstrated a change in effect size for “Nonpunitive Response to Error” (R2 = 0.290 vs. 0.420). Of the 13 specific categories measured through SOPS, plotting negative vs. positive values elucidated 2 crossing, 2 converging and 2 diverging patterns indicating both a decrease in positive responses and an increase in negative responses rather than neutral.ConclusionLongitudinal analysis of the SOPS using the directional measures, Delta and pattern trends can provide organizations with additional key insights regarding culture of patient safety.

The detrimental consequences of Coronavirus infection are distinctly evident following its declaration as to the 6th Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) by the World Health Organization on 30th January 2020 and its distressing and negative implications experienced across the globe. Apart from drastically impacting the healthcare of the population, a worrisome reduction in the universal economy is also attributed to this menace. The government of Pakistan is cognizant of its responsibilities took stringent measures to curb the coronavirus infection by the endowment of services for early case detection, contact tracing, isolation, and quarantine. Still, the first wave of COVID-19 resulted in a distressing scenario with the fast growth of this havoc in addition to those experienced in the United States, United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain. However, World Health Organization acknowledged the diligent efforts of the Pakistani government, healthcare professionals, and administrators in combating the first wave of COVID with an earlier reduction in effective Reproduction number (Rt) to 0.746 that was primarily attributed to Intermittent lockdown imposition, closure of educational institutes, avoidance of huge ceremonial gatherings and strict compliance to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). Although fewer chances of the second wave of COVID were anticipated in Pakistan due to early flattening of the curve during the first wave of COVID-19 in comparison with those of industrialized countries8 non-compliance to SOPs contributed to the rapid surge of the second wave. The government of Pakistan declared the occurrence of the second wave of COVID on 28th October 2020 when around 750 cases per day were reported. Active cases rapidly escalated to 11,000 and approximately 93 hospitalized patients were put on ventilators. Commencement of anti-government rallies and non-compliance to health guidelines are key contributors to this havoc. Currently, about 3499 active cases on daily basis are registered across the country with 39 deaths. About 410,000 active cases are detected nationally till now with 8260 fatalities. National Command and Operation Centre has accounted for a threefold ascend of infection since 12th October 2020. The steep ascend of cases during the second wave compelled the authorities to proceed with the shutting of learning institutes, the commencement of online education, and the postponement of all types of scheduled assessments except entrance exams. Even the employees of public and private sector medical institutes were vigilantly instructed to come to their offices on alternate days and keep working at home during the rest of the days from 25th November 2020 to 31st January 2021. Although these recommendations and initiatives by the concerned authorities can be of great assistance to curb the COVID pandemic but remaining extra cautious and strict observance of SOPs is of paramount significance to halt the rapid transmissibility of COVID. Stringent efforts of Rawalpindi Medical University-affiliated hospitals in battling the second wave of COVID are worth mentioning. Apart from Holy Family Hospital and Benazir Bhutto Hospital working to treat their respective catchment population, Rawalpindi Institute of Urology / Corona Hospital was reopened to cope up with the patient load amid the COVID pandemic. An adequate number of beds and necessary equipment were made available to manage the emerging infected cases.

Urolithiasis is frequent and raises significant health care burden in a working-age population. Its prevalence, in the Azores archipelago, is currently unknown but it is thought to be higher than the overall estimated prevalence. The Azores Biobank (AZORBIO) Urolithiasis samples have been collected in accordance with standard operation procedures (SOPs) to ensure high quality. Each donor provided 30 ml whole blood and 9 ml of urine. If possible, we preferred blood collected from fasting individuals and first morning urine samples. Aliquots of plasma, serum, DNA, RNA and urine, are stored at -80°C freezers. This collection of samples, and data, will be used to investigate the genetic and/or environmental risk factors associated with the disease in this geographical area.

Background. A huge progress has been recently made in the field of biomedical research and personalized medicine. Despite the advances of biobanking, significant limitations remain that are restricting the impact of researches. The major issues include the need to increase the quality and standardization of biospecimens and to maintain public trust. In general, it is named as harmonization of biobanking activities. The purpose of this article is to overview the current situation in biobanking issues and discuss about the possible solutions of these problems in Lithuania. The first steps in biobanking activities were made in the Institute of Oncology, Vilnius University (IOVU); several methods of DNA extraction from peripheral blood were tested and compared. Materials and methods. During the experiment, four manual DNA extractions and one automated DNA purification method to determine the efficiency of each method in terms of the purity and yields of DNA extracted from blood samples were tested. DNA from patient’s blood remaining after a routine blood test was purified. Results. Two of the four manual extraction methods produced good yields of DNA (from 57 to 126 µg/ml), the other two were of poor quality (from 8 to 47 µg/ml). In the same samples automatically isolated DNA concentrations ranged from 15 to 95 µg/ml. Conclusions. The first steps for biobanking activities, SOPs creation and process harmonization were made in IOVU. Finally, after appreciation of the general situation the main threats in Lithuania could be proposed. The general working plan and strategy for biobanking in Lithuania, according to international rules and national needs, must be applied.