Strengthening Patient Safety in a Cambodian Hospital Through Structured Weekly Reporting: A Low-Cost Quality Improvement Initiative

Persistent patient safety issues in low-resource hospitals are often underreported, delaying corrective actions and increasing preventable harm. This project aimed to implement a low-cost, structured weekly reporting system to improve patient safety processes and outcomes across departments at a tertiary hospital in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The structured weekly reporting system was designed and implemented by the author, with departmental staff providing operational input. A one-page Departmental Wise Checklist was introduced in the Emergency Room/Intensive Care Unit (ER/ICU), Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB/GYN), Outpatient Department (OPD), and Pediatrics. Weekly reviews, feedback loops, and departmental champions supported consistent reporting and follow-through.

After three months, process measures improved substantially: formally adopted SOPs increased from 0 to 10, BLS-trained ER staff rose from 38% to 98%, incidents of expired blood products fell from two per month to none, and reporting compliance averaged 92%. Patient-level outcomes also improved: monthly cases of neonatal hypothermia decreased from six to two, and ER adverse events dropped from four to one.

This initiative demonstrates that structured weekly reporting, combined with iterative feedback and departmental engagement, can strengthen patient safety and accountability in low-resource settings. Sustaining improvements requires embedding the process into quality assurance activities, staff training, and continued leadership oversight.

Key Messages

• In low-resource hospitals, patient safety systems often lack structured reporting and accountability mechanisms.

• A low-cost weekly reporting system refined through iterative PDSA cycles can improve engagement, compliance, and safety issue resolution across multiple departments.

• This model provides a replicable framework for hospitals in resource-limited settings to strengthen governance and foster a culture of safety.