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Clinical governance is the system through which NHS organisations are accountable for continuously improving the quality of their services and safeguarding high standards of care, by creating an environment in which clinical excellence will flourish
The Review of Public Health Regulation has been established to increase the confidence of both the public and professionals as to standards of competence, performance and conduct of the public health workforce. The review will provide recommendations on future regulatory approaches. It will report to the Chief Medical Officer for England in April 2010.
Guidance documents and other general information.
Clinical audit is a quality improvement process that seeks to improve patient care and outcomes through systematic review of care against explicit criteria and the implementation of change. Clinical audit and outcomes measurements are quality improvement tools that can help to close the gap between what is known to be the best care and the care that patients are receiving. They aim to ensure that all patients receive the most effective, up to date and appropriate treatments, delivered by clinicians with the right skills and experience. Clinical audit against good practice criteria or standards answers the question – are patients given the best care? Clinical outcomes measurement answers the questions – are they better, and do they feel better?
'The Essence of Care' has been designed to support the measures to improve quality set out in 'A First Class Service', and will contribute to the introduction of clinical governance at local level. The benchmarking process outlined in 'The Essence of Care' helps practitioners to take a structured approach to sharing and comparing practice, enabling them to identify the best and to develop action plans to remedy poor practice.
Articles published by DH about clinical governance.
Links to web pages related to clinical governance.
