CLINICAL GOVERNANCE

The Northern Endoscopy Centre has developed a Clinical Governance Framework covering four major areas of organisational performance including:

1. Clinical Risk Management (making sure our services are safe and minimising risk of error)

• Our culture promotes and encourages staff to report incidents, risks and near misses;

• Incident Management policy outlines the process for assessing and investigating incidents;

• Clinical policies are developed in accordance with evidence based best practice.

2. Clinical Effectiveness (making sure that the clinical services we provide are effective)

• Quality plans are initiated when significant issues are raised;

• Serious clinical incidents are reported and investigated;

• Quality performance and safety issues are reported to the Medical Advisory Committee and Board of Governance;

• We meet the standards for accreditation by ISO and NSQHS standards.

3. Effective Workforce (making sure our staff are competent and up-to-date)

• Ensuring a strict process for checking credentials, registration and scope of practice for all clinical disciplines;

• Targeted education and competency requirements in all clinical areas;

• Staff are orientated and updated on quality and risk systems.

4. Consumer Participates (involving our patients and carers in their care)

• Consumer complaints and feedback processes are managed in a timely fashion;

• Consumer feedback from patient satisfaction surveys informs strategic and business planning;

• Consumer participate and partner in improving patient experiences and health outcomes;

• Open disclosure between clinicians and consumers is actively promoted when things don't go to plan.