CLINICAL GOVERNANCE

Clinical governance is the term which is used to describe about the systematic approach to improving and maintaining the quality of the patient care within the health system. The term became commonly used in the health care system after the ‘Bristol Babies Scandal’ in the year 1955.  During this time, Dr Stephen Bolsin, who is an anesthetist, revealed about the high death rate for pediatric cardiac surgery at the Bristol Royal Infirmary. It was actually elaborate with the NHS (National Health Service) of United Kingdom and its most broadly cited formal meaning describes it as: A framework in which National Health Service organizations are responsible for enhancing the quality of their services and protecting greater standards of care by creating an atmosphere in which excellence in medical care would increase.

This definition is intended to represent three main attributes such as transparent accountability and responsibility for those standards, recognizably greater standards of care and steady active of improvement. The theory has a few parallels with the more generally recognized corporate governance, in which it addresses those systems, processes and structures which assure the accountability , proper management  and quality of an organization’s delivery of service and operation. But clinical governance relates only to the social and health care organizations and merely those concepts of such organizations which relate to the carers and delivery of care to patients however it is not related with the other business processes of the organization apart from to the degree that they affect the delivery of care.  The theory of integrated governance has appeared to refer jointly to the clinical governance and corporate governance duties of the health care organizations. Proceeding to 1999, the major legal responsibilities of National Health Service Trust Boards of United Kingdom were to make sure an acceptable level of patient safety and proper financial management of the health care organization.

Questionnaires

•  What are the difference between clinical governance and corporate governance?
• What are the duties of clinical governance?