What is Clinical Governance?

Clinical governance is the framework through which all the components of quality, including patient and public involvement, are brought together.
Clinical governance is about ensuring that patients are safe and risks are managed.

How is Clinical Governance managed in the Choose and Book programme?

There are several tiers, where Clinical Governance is managed;
NCRP (National Clinical Reference Panel)
Clinical Leads engaged directly
SHA (Strategic Health Authority) user groups
Patient focus groups
Choose and Book patient safety group

What do these do?

The NCRP

The NCRP was formed in early 2003 and includes members from a wide range of clinical backgrounds including primary and secondary care clinicians.  The panel meets every two months and contributes to the design of Choose and Book, making sure that it is clinically safe and fit for purpose.
Its main purpose is to oversee the clinical content of the Choose and Book application, agree priority areas for further development, and make sure that any clinical matters are exposed to current clinical opinion.

The NCRP:
• Provides a clinical perspective for the Choose and Book programme
• Advises on the clinical safety and fitness for purpose of the application
• Influences the design of the application
• Provides broad consensus on clinical matters relating to Choose and Book
• Provides clinical and practice management insight into business process redesign
• Facilitates effective relationships with the British Medical Association (BMA), National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), mental health and other stakeholders.

Who's involved in the NCRP?

The NCRP members have diverse clinical backgrounds including representatives from:
• Frontline primary and secondary care staff in the NHS
• Royal Colleges
• British Medical Association

If you are a clinician and want to be involved in the NCRP please contact us

Clinical Leads

The clinical leads are seconded from the National Health Service. They are practising clinicians, who have a special interest in the development of information technology in the NHS. They come from various areas of primary and secondary care and have a cross-section of specialist interests, which complement each other. These clinicians spend between 1 and 3 days directly involved in the day to day processes of Choose and Book. They have direct input into:

The strategic direction
Design and re-design of the software
Patient Safety (through the patient safety group)
Clinical engagement, through input into NCRP and SHA user groups, as well as running master-classes and visiting trusts that have specific problems
Information Governance
Give consensus on all clinical matters and business redesign

User Groups

These are run throughout the country, at trusts and at SHA’s. These are essential to garner grass root input into the development of Choose and Book. They are where problems are discussed and documented, to be taken forward by the central team. This is a two way process which ensures maximum input from the people who use the system.

Patient focus groups

They have a particular role in ensuring that the patients view is taken seriously. They have been invaluable in ensuring that the system works as it is intended to, for the patient.

Choose and Book Patient Safety Group

This group consists of 2 clinicians from the Clinical leads (one from primary and one from secondary care), a patient safety officer from the supplier as well as technicians from CfH and our suppliers. These personnel have all been specifically trained in patient safety and risk management.
This group ensures that the software is carefully checked for patient risk and advice changes that are necessary to ensure that clinical risk is minimised. They are responsible to The National Patient Safety Group and have to get Clinical Authority to release each version of the software.