Clinical governance and quality improvement to support effective communication
Systems are in place for effective and coordinated communication that supports the delivery of continuous and safe care for patients.
For systems and processes to work effectively and consistently across a health service organisation, they need to be embedded in the overall governance of the organisation.
This criterion requires organisation-wide governance, leadership and commitment to support effective clinical communication with patients, carers and families; between clinicians and multidisciplinary teams; and across organisations. To meet this criterion, health service organisations are required to:
- Integrate clinical governance and apply quality improvement systems
- Apply principles of partnering with consumers, health literacy and shared decision making when developing and implementing organisational clinical communication processes
- Implement safety and quality systems and processes to support effective clinical communication during high-risk situations.
Organisations will need to understand their priorities; identify their risks in relation to clinical communications; and consider how to best deal with these within their given resources, and workforce and organisational structures.
This criterion aligns closely with the Clinical Governance Standard and the Partnering with Consumers Standard.