title: Reasons for not reporting patient safety incidents in general practice: a qualitative study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the reasons for not reporting patient safety incidents in general practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  Qualitative interviews with general practitioners and members of the project group.
  
  
  METHODS
  General practice clinics in the Region of Northern Jutland in Denmark.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twelve general practitioners.
  
  
  METHODS
  The experiences and reflections of the involved professionals with regard to system use and non-use.
  
  
  RESULTS
  While most respondents were initially positive towards the idea of reporting and learning from patient safety incidents, they actually reported very few incidents. The major reasons for the low reporting rates are found to be a perceived lack of practical usefulness, issues of time and effort in a busy clinic with competing priorities, and considerations of appropriateness in relation to other professionals.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest that the visions of formal, comprehensive, and systematic reporting of (and learning from) patient safety incidents will be quite difficult to realize in general practice. Future studies should investigate how various ways of organizing incident reporting at the regional level influence local activities of reporting and learning in general practice.
authors.affiliation: The Research Unit for General Practice and Section of General Practice, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. marbro@sund.ku.dk
authors.forename: Marius Brostrøm
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Kousgaard
authors.forename: Anne Sofie
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Joensen
authors.forename: Thorkil
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Thorsen
mesh_terms: D003718:Denmark; D058006:General Practice / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D019300:Medical Errors; D061214:Patient Safety / Q000592:standards*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012308:Risk Management / Q000592:standards*; D013997:Time Factors