Clinical governance

Clinical governance is a system for improving the standard of clinical practice.
Clinical governance was first described in a government white paper as new system in NHS Trusts and primary care to ensure that clinical standards are met, and that processes are in place to ensure continuous improvement, backed by a new statutory duty for quality in NHS Trusts
The new framework is rapidly evolving, with the expectation that quality will improve incrementally in the future. This framework challenges clinicians' traditional autonomy and will only succeed to the extent that they find it supportive and helpful.
Existing activities such as clinical audit, education and training, research and development, and risk management (including complaints) will become part of clinical governance, and it is their resources that will fund it.
The approach will become systemic - with a senior clinician responsible for clinical governance throughout each organisation, and with important links to planning processes such as Health Improvement Programmes (HImPs), accountability agreements and personal development planning.
The chief executive of an NHS Trust or a Health Authority, as the accountable officer, will have responsibility for quality, including clinical governance.
The system will be open to public scrutiny - it will be reported on at board meetings and subject to an annual reporting cycle.
Further development of the system is likely to occur as it is implemented. Changes to funding streams and governance of teams, units, practices and working groups can also be anticipated, and relationships with accreditation processes and partnership working will evolve.

Bandolier has available a longer essay on critical appraisal - What is clinical governance?