A set of responsibilities and relationships that are established by HSO (Health Service Organisation) is Clinical Governance It can be established in a state, department, patient consumers, or workforce. It’s important for optimising health care services and delivering safe and high-quality health care. The core purpose of clinical governance is to provide the best healthcare services to patients and carers and minimise the existing risks.
In this article, we will get an in-depth review of clinical governance along with the pillars of clinical governance. In the discussion about Clinical Governance, we will enlighten its principles, main pillars, and core elements. It’s a transformative guide that is helpful for both patients and healthcare providers.
Pillars of Clinical Governance
The pillars are ideally the key components on which the framework of this concept is made. These pillars are essential to drive desirable outcomes. Clinical governance integrates seven main pillars. The pillars are listed along with a brief explanation here:
1. Effectiveness and Evidence-Based Care
This pillar helps ensure that healthcare organisations utilise the best possible research and evidence for better outcomes. Following evidence-based practice while selecting a treatment option, minding standard guidelines, and introducing plus implementing the latest standards is its part.
2. Risk Management
From understanding the methods to minimising the risk that can arise from those methods, this pillar comes in handy. With this, you can ensure that no past mistakes are repeated, and patient care is improved to a further extent. Moreover, identifying present problems and making sure that the protocols are followed is also included in this.
3. Patient and Public Involvement
Communication is the key, and this pillar comes in handy in this scenario. Carrying out the questionnaire and implementing patient forums are included in this.
4. Clinical Audit
Clinical audit is a continuous process of quality improvement, that mainly focuses on issues and clinical practice. It ensures that no shortcomings are present. Changes are also made as per the gold standard and re-auditing also occurs to ensure that improvements are implemented.
5. Staffing and Staff Management
The right staff for the right work is a very crucial component in the healthcare sector. This pillar helps in demonstrating that the staff has jobs as per their abilities, and the environment is comfortable.
6. Education and Training
The importance of ongoing education is highlighted through this pillar. From training staff to knowing that they are practising with improvements is its part. Degrees and diplomas that can create new pathways for staff are also included in this.
7. Information and IT
The purpose of this pillar is to make sure that no patient information is disclosed, and that it is all up to date. Keeping patient data confidential is the core purpose behind it.
CQC Questions
It stands for Care Quality Commission which is responsible for regulating health and social care. The quality of care in several care homes is ensured through it. Mainly five CQC standards are used in inspection. After standardisation, the health care sectors or care homes are rated as outstanding, good, requiring improvement, and inadequate. These standards are inclusive of the following:
- Are they safe – if the environment is safe and comfortable enough for patients?
- Are they effective – is there any good outcome in both the mental and physical health of the patients?
- Are they well-led – if the leadership and governance are providing high-quality care for individuals?
Importance of Clinical Governance
Clinical governance is important to ensure great quality of care and patient safety. There are multiple elements in Clinical Governance such as:
- Clinical culture and leadership
- Structure of clinical leadership
- Evidence-based practice
- Clinical audit
- Patient-centred care
- Feedback of patient
- Identifications and assessments of risk
- Strategies to minimise risk
- Professional development and training
- Reliability and accuracy of clinical data
- Frameworks of quality improvement
- Development of workforce
- Ethical clinical decision making
- Procedures and Policies
These elements are widely practised for optimised clinical governance. It’s very essential and you can discover other points showing the importance of clinical governance here:
● Patient Safety:
Clinical governance prioritises patient safety by reducing the risks. It also contributed to reducing errors, and harm that can happen to the patient.
● Quality Improvement:
When following the frameworks of clinical governance, the healthcare sectors and care homes can ensure continuous quality improvement. Regular monitoring and rhythmic evaluation also play an important part in this.
● Responsibility:
With pillars of clinical governance, the healthcare sectors and care homes can establish responsibility and accountability. All staff members understand their roles and contribute to the best healthcare delivery.
● Evidence-Based Practice:
This helps to know that healthcare interventions or updated decisions support the best evidence. This is effective in getting a good patient health outcome.
● Professional Development:
Committing to ongoing professional development is a crucial component, which you can get by following the pillars of clinical governance.
● Trust and Transparency:
With the help of clinical governance, one can practise with transparency. This also helps in building trust among patients and carers.
Difference Between Clinical Governance and Clinical Audit
Clinical governance is mainly a framework that aims to deliver the best healthcare facilities in the healthcare sectors like care homes. Whereas, a clinical audit is quite a systematic procedure for evaluative clinical practices against the standards.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, clinical governance is like a cornerstone of a healthcare system that helps in several things. This is used to make sure that the quality of care given to the patient is optimised, and that the organisation is working with best practices as per the gold standard. There are seven main pillars of clinical governance which include Effectiveness and Evidence-Based Care, risk management, and more. It helps in several important things such as learning and development, patient experience, leadership, and culture. However, there is a notable difference between clinical governance and clinical audit. You can learn more significant information above. Moreover, the elements, importance, and pillars of clinical governance are also described above for your better understanding.
