Clinical Governance
At Healthscope, we aim to be the best place to receive care by delivering exceptional quality care, clinical outcomes and experience to every consumer, every time.
We work to facilitate effective relationships between Healthscope’s Board, our executive team and managers, our clinicians and workforce, with our patients and consumers and our regulators and partners; which we believe are essential to maintaining and improving the quality of care within our services, which also may extend to broader health programs and the health system.
Healthscope’s Clinical Governance Plan and Framework describes the safety and quality systems and processes that are in place that demonstrate accountability throughout the organisation for improving the safety and quality of services provided by Healthscope to our patients, consumers, clients, clinical partners, staff and community.
We believe that effective clinical governance is integral to corporate governance and recognises that the accountability for safe and effective patient-centred care rests equally on everyone, from front line clinicians to managers, to executives and the Healthscope Board.
Healthscope’s Clinical Governance Framework supports the Healthscope Strategic Plan across all aspects of the strategy.
The Framework comprises eight key pillars, each which describes:
- “How we” go about achieving our commitment to safety, exceptional care, clinical outcomes and experience.
- What it means to “our people” and our partners, because we believe everyone plays an important role in the delivery of safe quality patient care, outcomes and experience.
- How we partner with “our consumers” and the broader community, in helping us to be the best place to receive care.
Each pillar is underpinned by systems and process designed to monitor and improve our performance, outcomes and experience.
How we
- Through the OneHealthscope approach, drive strategy, organisational design and demonstrate accountability for quality care and a culture of safety.
- Are guided by the Healthscope Safe Values, to ensure there are robust and reliable frameworks and processes that prioritise safety and quality.
- Demonstrate strong leadership engagement and ownership through promoting a shared governance approach.
Our people
- We live and practice the Healthscope safe values as we perform our roles – We care, We do, We strive, We’re a team
- We work in partnership with our colleagues and our Consumers to design and implement strategies, systems and processes that promote the delivery of safe, quality care.
- We treat our colleagues, consumers, and community members with care and respect, prioritising the safety of everyone at all times.
Our consumers
- Our Consumers work beside us to review and improve our clinical outcomes and the services, systems and processes which have a direct impact on them.
- They work with us on our journey in making Healthscope a chosen destination to receive care.
How we
- Manage our key partner relationships with our peer workers, doctors and other service providers.
- Assist our partners to work with us successfully and develop professionally.
- Work with key special interest groups such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the disability sector; regulators, health funds and others.
Our people
- We promote a high level of professionalism and ethical standards of behaviour.
- We actively promote our reputation and image to the wider community. We are proud that we work for Healthscope.
- We value and appreciate the diverse contributions of everyone.
- We value the relationships we have with all members of the team and consumers, recognising that it takes a team to deliver exceptional care, outcomes and experience.
Our consumers
- Our Consumers work with us to ensure that we understand and meet the needs of our communities that we provide services for.
- They represent and share with us the interests of those with diverse backgrounds, to assist us in meeting community expectations and obligations.
- They understand their, and others’ Healthcare rights and responsibilities.
How we
- Collect, analyse, use, report and benchmark our data to drive strategy and decision making.
- Measure and evaluate our performance internally, against our peers and against industry standards and benchmarks.
- Use ours and others’ data to improve patient experience and outcomes.
Our people
- We involve service delivery staff in the collection of data and use it to to monitor and evaluate our practice through the collection of audits, performance indicators and other forms of data.
- We display and share our performance and outcome data within our teams so we can recognise a job well done and celebrate our wins.
- Using our data, we are open to improving our care and how it’s delivered safely; and improve the healthcare experience of our consumers.
Our consumers
- Our Consumers review our clinical and performance data to provide another perspective which assists us to understand what is important to them.
- Our consumers help us to present our data to the community in a way which is relevant and easily understood by the wider community.
How we
- Manage, report, analyse incidents, share the learnings arising from those incidents; to deliver harm-free care.
- Identify, manage, and mitigate risks; reduce our exposure to loss.
- Comply with standards and legislation.
Our people
- We own and learn from our mistakes and speak up when things are not right; always promoting safety for all through a blame free culture .
- We always look for ways to provide harm-free care by reporting incidents and hazards and participating in the review of incidents to improve systems and processes as well as health outcomes.
- We endeavor to always comply with legislation and uphold the standards which are there to protect us, our partners, our consumers, and the community.
Our consumers
- Our Consumers are involved in the review of adverse outcome data; including incident investigation, analysis, and the implementation of changes to mitigate recurrence.
- They participate in our committees and other forums that assess our compliance with standards.
- They have confidence in us that we will always be transparent and openly disclose any issues of concern related to them.
How we
- Use our experiences, data, learnings; and those of others to drive innovation and improvement.
- Collaborate through our networks to learn from each other, identify opportunities for improvement, remove rework.
- Share our successes and failures.
Our people
- We look for ways to improve what we do by sharing our experiences and ideas, either locally or through our national network.
- We are open and transparent with our Consumers, partners and our teams about what we are trying to improve and involve them to achieve the best outcome.
- We use feedback to identify quality activity opportunities.
Our consumers
- Our Consumers have an input to, and participate in our quality improvement program.
- They challenge us to think differently about what we do, and work with us to design activities to positively influence change in clinical practice that results in improved patient experience and clinical outcomes.
How we
- Participate in research and trials, and clinical registries to enhance clinical care and improve consumer safety.
- Establish standards of care based on sound review processes. They will be reviewed as per the established Policy and Procedure review cycle.
- Collaborate through our networks to identify best practice opportunities; to inspire our workforce for exceptional patient care.
- Our policies and procedures will promote best practice principles and be based on relevant standards and legislation.
Our people
- We value opportunities to and encourage each other to reflect on the effectiveness of our systems and processes, models of care, and how we practice; striving always to meet best practice outcomes.
- We make professional and industry standards and our own policies and procedures widely available and regularly audit against actual practice.
- We partner with our Consumers at the point of care and through other forums, and other key partners to develop policies and procedures to support exceptional outcomes and experience.
- We promote what we do and compare ourselves externally to the industry to ensure we keep in step with or drive best practice.
Our consumers
- Our Consumers share their lived experience with us to ensure our practices reflect and accommodate the individuality of care.
- They work with us to co-design their individual care, as well as models of care across a broader level.
How we
- Determine the training needs of our staff and assist them to develop skills, knowledge, and resilience through continuing education and training.
- Ensure our workforce is sustainable, adaptive, and innovative through rigorous systems in place to recruit and retain staff.
- Ensure our staff and key partners are appropriately qualified and credentialed through robust credentialling and verification policies and processes
Our people
- We have processes in place to ensure that we practice in accordance with our approved scope or skill set.
- We are provided with appropriate supervision and opportunity for regular review of individual practice.
- We are regularly assessed and supervision is provided as and when required.
- We are committed to keeping our skills and knowledge base current, in order that we develop personally and professionally; and provide safe, quality care in a way that is contemporary.
- We look for ways to help us to respond to the changing demands of the healthcare landscape in the ways we support each other and our teams.
Our consumers
- Our Consumers are involved in the review, development and delivery of workforce training.
- They assist us to understand the value of relationships in healthcare, from their unique and individualised perspective.
- Our consumers support each other in understanding and performing their role.
How we
- Improve consumer participation in their care and decision making about their care.
- Engage with our patients, consumers, families and carers through the practice of always events, and responsive complaints management processes.
- Achieve industry leading patient reported experience of our services and care.
Our people
- We all understand how our roles and relationships contribute to the consumer experience.
- We work with our consumers, their families and carers on what matters to them, to achieve their goals.
- We all work together to embed relationship centered caring into everyday practice.
Our consumers
- Our Consumers feel valued and respected and know that their needs and concerns are addressed; and their feedback will be sought and responded to.
- They trust and have confidence in our services and recommend us to others.