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Access a range of articles and resources written by clinical governance experts and search our carefully curated list of safety and quality journal articles and reports.

AICG articles, resources and curated journals and reports are available to all AICG members. Members must be logged in, in order to access all content. Users who are not AICG members will only be able to access publicly available articles. 

AICG Articles

Showing 1–10 of 15 articles
Seven research-based strategies for reducing surgical site infection
Seven research-based strategies for reducing surgical site infection

Surgical site infections remain a problem despite many decades of research and practice change to eliminate those that are preventable. 

Approximately 0.5% to 3% of surgical patients develop an infection. Compared with patients undergoing surgery who do not have a surgical site infection, these patients are hospitalized approximately 7 to 11 days longer.   As we know, longer hospital stays increase the risk for patients and reduce hospital efficiency and effectiveness. Infections are the leading cause of re-admissions following surgery and can add thousands of dollars to the cost of an admission. 
 

Healthcare
Infection control
Member
Risk management
Safety
Applying technology can both help and hinder patient safety
Applying technology can both help and hinder patient safety

Technological advances have opened new possibilities for improving patient safety. Using technology to digitize healthcare processes has the potential to increase standardisation and efficiency of clinical workflows, and to reduce errors and cost across all healthcare settings. However, if technological approaches are designed or implemented poorly, the burden on care providers can increase.

Aged care
Healthcare
Public
Risk management
What matters most to patients in care transitions?
What matters most to patients in care transitions?

Care transitions, whether intrahospital or discharge to home or another care setting, are fraught with ‘Swiss cheese holes.’ As consumers move through different assessments, professions, wards, plans, and even funding structures, the danger of poor quality care, communication breakdown and consumer dissatisfaction is high. The authors argue that better incorporation of patients and carers in rounds, as done in children’s hospitals, can prevent some of these problems.

Consumer partnerships
Healthcare
Member
Telehealth
Transition
Department of Health and Aged Care Standard Operating Procedure Template
Department of Health and Aged Care Standard Operating Procedure Template

Handy template on the Department of Health and Aged Care website for documenting standard procedures.

Aged care
Healthcare
Member
Template
Capture the Complaint
Capture the Complaint

It has been reported that complaints relating to registered health practitioners increased over the 2021/2022 financial year. Further (and separately), in aged care, there was a total of 2,767 complaints made in the first quarter of 2022 and 2,642 complaints in the second quarter. Both these figures had also trended upwards compared with the corresponding numbers in 2021 (with 2,313 in the first quarter of 2021 and 2,261 in the second quarter).

Aged care
Continuous improvement
Disability
Healthcare
Incident management
Person-centred care
Public
Quality
Safety
Clinical governance in clinical trials
Clinical governance in clinical trials

Robust clinical trials drive learning, innovation and hence continuous improvement in evidence-based care.  Not only do clinical trials promote good clinical governance in this way, but good clinical governance must underpin clinical trials. 

Frameworks
Healthcare
Member
Research
Standards
Where did clinical governance start, and where are we at now?
Where did clinical governance start, and where are we at now?

The term clinical governance was first coined in the context of the United Kingdom’s National Health Service - specifically, in a white paper endorsed by then Prime Minister Tony Blair entitled ‘The new NHS: modern, dependable.’ Now, 25 years later – where are we at?
 

Aged care
Healthcare
Member
Person-centred care
Caring for those who care
Caring for those who care

The concept of ‘burnout’ was first described in the early 1970s, and has attracted media attention in recent years specifically in the context of healthcare. It is known to be particularly prevalent within certain demographics, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.  Burnout is not unique to acute health services, with evidence of its prevalence seen in other care sectors such as aged care and disability.

Aged care
Burnout
Compassion
Disability
Healthcare
Member
Mental health
WHS
Workforce
Safety II and simulation in healthcare
Safety II and simulation in healthcare

What does safety II really mean in practice? How can your organisation develop high performing safety II teams?

Building capabilities
Continuous improvement
Healthcare
Member
Safety
Simulation
The business case for clinical governance
The business case for clinical governance

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to cast a shadow over the health of the world, we continue to learn about clinical governance at scale. We have previously drawn analogies to Australian government responses with clinical governance principles - however the parallels don’t stop there.  Across the world, the economic impact of the pandemic has been palpable and is illustrative of the co-dependent relationship between health and money, where better health outcomes are known to correlate with better economic outcomes.

Healthcare
Member
Person-centred care
Quality
Resources
Safety
Showing 1–10 of 15 articles
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