Resources

Evidence supporting the association between high organisational performance and the presence of clinicians in senior leadership and management roles is steadily growing. Clinical involvement in organisational leadership has been positively linked to operational efficiency and care quality improvements. This in-depth research report from The Health Foundation looks at what the NHS can gain from strengthening clinical leadership and management, the challenges involved in doing so and how they might be overcome. 

The role of healthcare leaders is becoming increasingly complex and carries significant responsibility for consumer and employee safety. Leaders and managers often experience tension between adhering to regulatory standards and addressing the unique needs of their consumers and staff.  This dual focus can lead to a fragmented effort, where Health, Safety and Environment (HSE), with a focus on workers, and Quality and Patient Safety (QPS), with a focus on consumers, operate in silos rather than as integrated components of a cohesive safety strategy.
 

All human service sectors rely heavily on a common success factor: people. Care providers and consumers form a symbiotic relationship. They are two sides of the same coin. This webinar explores how this relationship can be designed to create a positive and upward spiral of improved staff satisfaction and care quality. 

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) has introduced the concept of Quality Improvement (QI) ‘dosing’, where different staff roles receive tailored levels of improvement science (SOI) training based on their responsibilities. 

The inter-dependency of clinician wellbeing and patient safety is well accepted. Staff burnout is a widespread problem and patient safety improvement appears to have stalled. This survey of 2187 physicians and 6643 nurses practising in 64 hospitals in six European countries investigated the well-being of physicians and nurses in hospital practice in Europe, and identified interventions that hold promise for reducing adverse clinician outcomes and improving patient safety.

As another year is drawing to a close, many of us may be feeling burnt out – not least our healthcare professionals, who have continued to soldier on past the COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020 and 2021.  

Despite a parallel pandemic of healthcare worker fatigue, we have yet to see a positive cultural shift towards promoting the health and well-being of health professionals, and in offering ongoing support to an already stretched workforce.  To the contrary, we have recently heard of junior doctors being threatened with negative actions for sleeping during night shifts – including putting strategies in place ‘to increase the night time workload’ and furnishing them with ‘less comfortable chairs.’

The concept of clinical governance includes how we conduct ourselves as individuals – that is, our ‘personal conduct’ in ‘controlling, regulating, directing or overseeing’ the ‘assessment and management of a person’s health to support optimal outcomes’, where ‘outcomes’ includes the ‘experience of care’.

Simulation in healthcare has traditionally been applied in the context of education and training. Whilst robust education and training (which may be achieved through simulation) will ultimately improve safety and quality, simulation can also be used much more broadly - and directly - as a tool in enhancing safety and quality in care delivery.

Continuous improvement is the essence of clinical governance. But continuous improvement requires change, and change can be confronting. As we predictably move towards a more digitised world - including in healthcare, and aged care – change is also inevitable.

As at July 2022, there were in excess of 642,000 health practitioners registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).  In addition to this cohort, there are also non-registered health professionals who play an essential role in the delivery of care.