Governance, Audit, IT, etc Flashcards
What is clinical governance?
GMC definition
- System through which organisations are accountable for continuously improving quality of services
- Safeguarding high standards of care
- Contributes to safety and quality of patient care
- Early identification of risks and concern
- Lead to individual, team and wider organisational learning
Whose legal responsibility is it for clinical governance in an NHS trust?
- Trust board is responsible for quality of care provided by the trust
- Trust board, Chief Exec
- Annual reviews of clinical governance
- Summarising quality of care and implementation of good clinical governance
Whose practical responsibility is clinical governance in an NHS trust?
- All levels
- Medical director, nursing director, clinical director, consultants, nurse managers, and then all staff
What are the 7 pillars of clinical governance?
PIRATES
- Patient and public involvement
- Information
- Risk management
- Audit
- Training and education
- Effectiveness/evidence-based practice (clinical effectiveness)
- Staff management
Pillars of clinical governance
- What is clinical effectiveness and research?
- Any treatment must provide best outcome for the patient
- Evidence-based approaches
- Sticking to and implementing new guidelines
- Using experience to improve
- Researching to enhance future care
Pillars of Clinical Governance
What is risk management?
- Identifying problem areas in treatment
- Improvement through learning from previous issues
- Reduce risks by implementing risk systems
- Thorough risk assessments
- Reporting of incidents and near misses
- Robust systems in place to understand, monitor and minimise risk to patients and staff
- Blame-free culture
Pillars of Clinical Governance
What is patient and public involvement? (PPI)
- Patient questionnaires, patient forums, representatives from patients on practice and hospital boards
- Ensures improvements are made from the patient’s perspective
- Patient Advice and Liaison Service
- Local patient forums
- Foundation Trust Board of Governors
Pillars of Clinical Governance
What is Audit?
- Monitor the quality of clinical care being carried out
- Review of health practices against agreed standards
- Repeat the audit cycle
What is the audit cycle?
- Identify an issue or problem
- Identify a standard (NICE, RCOG, FSRH)
- Collect data on current practice
- Assess conformity of clinical practice with the standard
- Implement change
- Closing the loop: re-audit
Pillars of Clinical Governance
What is Staff management?
- Ensure those employed are suitable to carry out the work
- Underperformance can be highlighted and helped to improve
- Professional development of staff encouraged
- MAST training
- Appropriate recruitment and management of staff
- Encouraging staff retention
Pillars of Clinical Governance
What is education and training?
- Staff should have continual training to ensure they are up to date with their knowledge, to provide the best care possible
- Ability to achieve further education, attend events, lectures, webinars, courses
- Appraisals
Pillars of Clinical Governance
What is information and IT?
- Patient information should be up to date and correct
- Confidential through correct storage and management of data
NHS England Complaints Policy
Who can make a complaint?
- A person themselves
- A representative acting on behalf of a person who has died / is a child / has incapacity / has given consent to a third party to act on their behalf / has delegated authority to act on their behalf / an MP acting on behalf of a constituent
What is the statutory duty of local authorities re. complaints processes?
Statutory duty to commission independent advocacy services to provide support for people to make a complaint about their NHS care or treatment
What is PALS?
- Patient Advice Liaison Service
- Provide a point of contact for patients, their families and their carers
- PALS officers will be in local hospitals
Is there a time limit for making a complaint?
- Must not be made later than 12 months after the date occurred (or later if the matter of the complaint came to the notice of the complainant after 12 months)