Investigators: D.Freeth*, J.Sandall, E.Berridge,N.Macintosh,T.Allen. 

Project Funding: Medical Research Council and NIHR Health Technology Assessment Programme 

The aim of this study was to test the relationship between organisational and safety cultures and the quality of care, employing two contrasting methods to evaluate culture. The study took place in eight maternity units and eight emergency departments in NHS Trusts across England. We used staff surveys, interviews and observation to assess organisational and patient safety culture and audited medical records to assess quality of care. We collected data from eight maternity units and eight emergency departments in six out of ten English Strategic Health Authorities. A staff survey investigated perceptions of organisational culture, safety climate; profile scores for aspects of organisational culture and safety climate derived from semi-structured observations and brief key informant interviews in each setting; audit of of notes of three evidence-based markers of the quality of care for three common conditions.