Regulating Quality and Safety of Health and Social Care International Experiences

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Regulating Quality and Safety of Health and Social Care International Experiences CHILDREN AND FAMILIES The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and EDUCATION AND THE ARTS decisionmaking through research and analysis. ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE This electronic document was made available from www.rand.org as a public INFRASTRUCTURE AND service of the RAND Corporation. TRANSPORTATION INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS LAW AND BUSINESS NATIONAL SECURITY Skip all front matter: Jump to Page 16 POPULATION AND AGING PUBLIC SAFETY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Support RAND TERRORISM AND Browse Reports & Bookstore HOMELAND SECURITY Make a charitable contribution For More Information Visit RAND at www.rand.org Explore RAND Europe View document details Limited Electronic Distribution Rights This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law as indicated in a notice appearing later in this work. This electronic representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for non-commercial use only. Unauthorized posting of RAND electronic documents to a non-RAND Web site is prohibited. RAND electronic documents are protected under copyright law. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of our research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please see RAND Permissions. This report is part of the RAND Corporation research report series. RAND reports present research findings and objective analysis that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND reports undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity. EUROPE Regulating quality and safety of health and social care International experiences Daniel Schweppenstedde, Saba Hinrichs, Uzor C. Ogbu, Eric C. Schneider, Dionne S. Kringos, Niek S. Klazinga, Judith Healy, Lauri Vuorenkoski, Reinhard Busse, Benoit Guerin, Emma Pitchforth, Ellen Nolte EUROPE Regulating quality and safety of health and social care International experiences Daniel Schweppenstedde, Saba Hinrichs, Uzor C. Ogbu, Eric C. Schneider, Dionne S. Kringos, Niek S. Klazinga, Judith Healy, Lauri Vuorenkoski, Reinhard Busse, Benoit Guerin, Emma Pitchforth, Ellen Nolte Prepared for the Department of Health The research described in this document was prepared for the UK Department of Health (England) within the PRP project ‘An 'On-call' Facility for International Healthcare Comparisons’. RAND Europe is an independent, not-for-profit policy research organisation that aims to improve policy and decisionmaking for the public interest though research and analysis. RAND’s publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. R® is a registered trademark © Copyright 2014 RAND Corporation Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Copies may not be duplicated for commercial pur- poses. Unauthorized posting of RAND documents to a non-RAND website is prohibited. RAND documents are protected under copyright law. For informa- tion on reprint and linking permissions, please visit the RAND permissions page (www.rand.org/publications/permissions.html). RAND OFFICES SANTA MONICA, CA • WASHINGTON, DC PITTSBURGH, PA • NEW ORLEANS, LA • JACKSON, MS • BOSTON, MA DOHA, QA • CAMBRIDGE, UK • BRUSSELS, BE www.rand.org • www.rand.org/randeurope Preface This report is concerned with ‘standards of quality and safety’ within health and social care systems. Care standards are intended to support efforts in maintaining and improving the quality of care; they have been developed across countries, although the ways in which they are implemented and applied differs between nations. Taking a range of six countries, we review the regulatory mechanisms that have been implemented to ensure that essential standards of care are applied and are being adhered to, and consider the range of policy instruments used to encourage and ensure continuous quality improvement. We report on Australia, England, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands and the USA, with the information presented reflecting the regulatory systems as of 1 August 2013. The report is intended to inform policy thinking for the Department of Health and others in developing the regulation of safety and quality of health and social care in England. It was prepared as part of the project ‘An “On-call” Facility for International Healthcare Comparisons’ funded by the Department of Health in England through its Policy Research Programme (grant no. 0510002). The project comprises a programme of work on international healthcare comparisons that provides intelligence on new developments in other countries, involving a network of experts in a range of countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to inform health (care) policy development in England. For more information on the project please see www.international-comparisons.org.uk. RAND Europe is an independent not-for-profit policy research organisation that aims to improve policy- and decision making in the public interest, through rigorous research and analysis. RAND Europe’s clients include European governments, institutions, NGOs and firms with a need for rigorous, independent, multidisciplinary analysis. This report has been peer-reviewed in accordance with RAND’s quality assurance standards. For more information about RAND Europe or this report, please contact: Dr Ellen Nolte RAND Europe Westbrook Centre Milton Road Cambridge CB4 1YG United Kingdom Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 (0)1223 273853 iii Contents Preface ........................................................................................................................ iii List of figures ............................................................................................................... xi List of tables ..............................................................................................................xiii Summary ................................................................................................................... xv Acknowledgements .................................................................................................... xix CHAPTER 1 Introduction ........................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background ....................................................................................................... 1 1.1.1 Aim of this report ................................................................................ 1 1.2 Methodology ..................................................................................................... 2 1.2.1 Selection of countries ........................................................................... 2 1.2.2 Data collection ..................................................................................... 2 1.3 About this report ............................................................................................... 3 CHAPTER 2 Overview of findings ............................................................................... 5 2.1 Context for standards of quality within health and social care systems ............... 6 2.2 Standards of quality and safety in health and social care ..................................... 9 2.3 Regulatory strategies and actors for assuring quality of care.............................. 12 2.3.1 Principal regulatory strategies and mechanisms for health and social care governance ........................................................................ 14 2.3.2 Main actors responsible for assuring standard adherence in health and social care ......................................................................... 16 2.4 Effectiveness of regulatory strategies and systems ............................................. 25 2.4.1 Case study: inspections ...................................................................... 27 2.5 Trends in regulatory approaches ...................................................................... 29 2.6 Summary ......................................................................................................... 31 CHAPTER 3 Australia ............................................................................................... 33 3.1 System overview .............................................................................................. 33 3.1.1 Organisation and financing of the health and social care systems ....... 33 3.1.2 Principles of healthcare governance .................................................... 34 3.1.3 Recent reforms of the health and social care systems .......................... 34 3.2 National framework for care quality ................................................................ 36 v Regulating quality and safety of health and social care RAND Europe 3.2.1 Sources of minimum standards of quality in the health and social care systems ........................................................................................ 36 3.2.2 Overview of main bodies responsible for standard setting and enforcement ....................................................................................... 39 3.3 National regulatory bodies ............................................................................... 40 3.3.1 Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) ....................................................................................... 40 3.3.2 National Health Performance Authority (NHPA)
Recommended publications
  • Group Work: Ghana's Pathway to Achieve Universal Health Coverage
    Health Care Financing module, 6-15 November 2019 Group work: Ghana’s pathway to achieve universal health coverage Reinhard Busse* Peter Agyei Bafour** * Department of Health Care Management (WHO Collaborating Centre for Health Systems Research and Management), Technische Universität Berlin, Germany & European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies ** School of Public Health, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana Group Work First 90 min (8:00-10:00): • Same groups as on Friday • 90 minutes group work – Discuss Ghana‘s pathway to UHC Second 90 min (10:30-12:30): • Present Ghanas pathway to UHC – 10 min presentation per group + 5 min discussion – 15 min general discussion and wrap-up 12 November 2019 Group work: pathways to UHC 2 Group task 1. Identify the most important challenges for the Ghana health system to reach UHC 2. Discuss the content of the lectures of the first week: what options are available to achieve UHC? And how can they be implemented (revenue generation, actors, functions, financial flow)? 3. Prepare a presentation (max. 10 slides): – Main challenges for UHC in Ghana: <3 slides – Options to achieve UHC: 2-3 slides – A pathway to achieve UHC: 3-4 slides – Conclusions: 1 slide 12 November 2019 Group work: pathways to UHC 3 The Ghana health system at a glance Collector of resources Third-party payer MoF MoH Development partners NHIA NHIA 2.5% of VAT (NHI levy), Contracts with formal sector: 2.5% SNIT accredited providers contribution, Small premiums (€1-7) MoH Population Provider NHIS members: 35-40% Choice of contracted providers 57% government (GHS), Uninsured (majority) 33% private, Out-of-pocket payments VHI (few) 7% non-for-profit 11 November 2019 From fragmented systems to UHC (CHAG, Muslim)4 NHIS revenue composition 11 November 2019 From fragmented systems to UHC 5 NHIS membership composition 11 November 2019 From fragmented systems to UHC 6 Road to UHC in Ghana – targets for 2030 11 November 2019 From fragmented systems to UHC 7.
    [Show full text]
  • Three Essays on the Behavioral, Socioeconomic, and Geographic Determinants of Mortality: Evidence from the United Kingdom and International Comparisons
    University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2016 Three Essays on the Behavioral, Socioeconomic, and Geographic Determinants of Mortality: Evidence From the United Kingdom and International Comparisons Laura Kelly University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Demography, Population, and Ecology Commons, and the Epidemiology Commons Recommended Citation Kelly, Laura, "Three Essays on the Behavioral, Socioeconomic, and Geographic Determinants of Mortality: Evidence From the United Kingdom and International Comparisons" (2016). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 1806. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1806 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1806 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Three Essays on the Behavioral, Socioeconomic, and Geographic Determinants of Mortality: Evidence From the United Kingdom and International Comparisons Abstract This dissertation contains three chapters covering the impact of behavioral, socioeconomic, and geographic determinants of health and mortality in high-income populations, with particular emphasis on the abnormally high mortality in Scotland, and the relative advantages of indirect and direct analyses in estimating national mortality. Chapter one identifies behavioral risk factors underlying mortality variation across small-areas in Great Britain, using the indirect estimation
    [Show full text]
  • The Intended and Unintended Outcomes of New Governance Arrangements Within the NHS
    SDO Project (08/1618/129) The intended and unintended outcomes of new governance arrangements within the NHS Report for the National Institute for Health Research Service Delivery and Organisation programme March 2010 Professor John Storey, The Open University Business School Dr Richard Holti, The Open University Business School Dr Nik Winchester, The Open University Business School Professor Rod Green, Department of Management, The University of Bath Professor Graeme Salaman, The Open University Business School Professor Paul Bate, University College, London ____________________________________ Project Lead: Professor John Storey, Open University Business School Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA E-mail: [email protected] © Queen’s Printer and Controller of HMSO 2010 1 SDO Project (08/1618/129) Contents Acknowledgements ....................................................5 Executive Summary....................................................6 Background ..............................................................................6 Aims........................................................................................6 About this study ........................................................................7 Key findings..............................................................................7 Conclusions ..............................................................................9 PART 1: POSITIONING THE STUDY...........................11 1 Introduction and background...........................11 1.1 The governance and
    [Show full text]
  • Health Care Systems in the Eu a Comparative Study
    EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR RESEARCH WORKING PAPER HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS IN THE EU A COMPARATIVE STUDY Public Health and Consumer Protection Series SACO 101 EN This publication is available in the following languages: EN (original) DE FR The opinions expressed in this document are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position of the European Parliament. Reproduction and translation for non-commercial purposes are authorized, provided the source is acknowledged and the publisher is given prior notice and sent a copy. Publisher: EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT L-2929 LUXEMBOURG Author: Dr.med. Elke Jakubowski, MSc. HPPF, Advisor in Public Health Policy Department of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, Medical School Hannover Co-author: Dr.med. Reinhard Busse, M.P.H., Department of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, Medical School Hannover Editor: Graham R. Chambers BA Directorate-General for Research Division for Policies on Social Affairs, Women, Health and Culture Tel.: (00 352) 4300-23957 Fax: (00 352) 4300-27720 e-mail: [email protected] WITH SPECIAL GRATITUDE TO: James Kahan, Panos Kanavos, Julio Bastida-Lopez, Elias Mossialos, Miriam Wiley, Franco Sassi, Tore Schersten, Juha Teperi for their helpful comments and reviews of earlier drafts of the country chapters, and Manfred Huber for additional explanatory remarks on OECD Health Data. The manuscript was completed in May 1998. EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR RESEARCH WORKING PAPER HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS IN THE EU A COMPARATIVE STUDY Public Health and Consumer Protection Series SACO 101 EN 11-1998 Health Care Systems CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ........................................................... 5 PART ONE: A Comparative Outline of the Health Care Systems of the EU Member States ........................................
    [Show full text]
  • Improving Healthcare Quality in Europe
    Cover_WHO_nr52.qxp_Mise en page 1 20/08/2019 16:31 Page 1 51 THE ROLE OF PUBLIC HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS IN ADDRESSING PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEMS IN EUROPE PUBLIC HEALTH IN ADDRESSING ORGANIZATIONS PUBLIC HEALTH THE ROLE OF Quality improvement initiatives take many forms, from the creation of standards for health Improving healthcare 53 professionals, health technologies and health facilities, to audit and feedback, and from fostering a patient safety culture to public reporting and paying for quality. For policy- makers who struggle to decide which initiatives to prioritise for investment, understanding quality in Europe Series the potential of different quality strategies in their unique settings is key. This volume, developed by the Observatory together with OECD, provides an overall conceptual Health Policy Health Policy framework for understanding and applying strategies aimed at improving quality of care. Characteristics, effectiveness and Crucially, it summarizes available evidence on different quality strategies and provides implementation of different strategies recommendations for their implementation. This book is intended to help policy-makers to understand concepts of quality and to support them to evaluate single strategies and combinations of strategies. Edited by Quality of care is a political priority and an important contributor to population health. This Reinhard Busse book acknowledges that "quality of care" is a broadly defined concept, and that it is often Niek Klazinga unclear how quality improvement strategies fit within a health system, and what their particular contribution can be. This volume elucidates the concepts behind multiple elements Dimitra Panteli of quality in healthcare policy (including definitions of quality, its dimensions, related activities, Wilm Quentin and targets), quality measurement and governance and situates it all in the wider context of health systems research.
    [Show full text]
  • The Four Health Systems of the United Kingdom: How Do They Compare?
    The four health systems of the United Kingdom: how do they compare? Gwyn Bevan, Marina Karanikolos, Jo Exley, Ellen Nolte, Sheelah Connolly and Nicholas Mays Source report April 2014 About this research This report is the fourth in a series dating back to 1999 which looks at how the publicly financed health care systems in the four countries of the UK have fared before and after devolution. The report was commissioned jointly by The Health Foundation and the Nuffield Trust. The research team was led by Nicholas Mays at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The research looks at how the four national health systems compare and how they have performed in terms of quality and productivity before and after devolution. The research also examines performance in North East England, which is acknowledged to be the region that is most comparable to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in terms of socioeconomic and other indicators. This report, along with an accompanying summary report, data appendices, digital outputs and a short report on the history of devolution (to be published later in 2014), are available to download free of charge at www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/compare-uk-health www.health.org.uk/compareUKhealth. Acknowledgements We are grateful: to government statisticians in the four countries for guidance on sources of data, highlighting problems of comparability and for checking the data we have used; for comments on the draft report from anonymous referees and from Vernon Bogdanor, Alec Morton and Laura Schang; and for guidance on national clinical audits from Nick Black and on nursing data from Jim Buchan.
    [Show full text]
  • 84453 320678.Pdf
    UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Uptake of health services for common mental disorders by first-generation Turkish and Moroccan migrants in the Netherlands Fassaert, T.; de Wit, M.A.S.; Verhoeff, A.P.; Tuinebreijer, W.C.; Gorissen, W.H.M.; Beekman, A.T.F.; Dekker, J. DOI 10.1186/1471-2458-9-307 Publication date 2009 Document Version Final published version Published in BMC Public Health Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Fassaert, T., de Wit, M. A. S., Verhoeff, A. P., Tuinebreijer, W. C., Gorissen, W. H. M., Beekman, A. T. F., & Dekker, J. (2009). Uptake of health services for common mental disorders by first-generation Turkish and Moroccan migrants in the Netherlands. BMC Public Health, 9, 307. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-9-307 General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible.
    [Show full text]
  • Surgical News May 2013 / Page 3
    Surgicalthe royaL a ustraLasian News CoLLege of surgeons May 2013 Vol: 12 No:10 The Golden Nov/Dec Scalpel games 2011 - a test of surgical skill Value of the Audit Improving patient outcomes The College of Surgeons of Australia and New Zealand c ntents 10 Alcohol-fuelled violence Why we need to talk about it 16 Global Burden of Surgical Disease How surgeons can advance the agenda 18 A test of skill Medics compete in surgical battle of skills 22 Medico-Legal The ongoing saga of Jayant Patel 12 6 Relationships & Advocacy 22 Your Practice Card 8 Surgical Snips A new web facility for 14 Poison’d Chalice members 17 Dr BB G-loved 28 PD Workshops 25 International 33 Case Note Review Development 37 Curmudgeon’s Corner Continuing a vision in the 46 Book Club Pacific 26 Successful Scholar Ajay Iyengar’s research UpToDate® with heart To learn more or to 32 Morbidity Audit and Logbook Tool subscribe risk-free, visit This key tool continues learn.uptodate.com/UTD improvement for Fellows Or call +1-781-392-2000. Patients don’t just expect you to have all the right answers. 18 34 They expect you to have them right now. Fortunately, there’s SurgicalTHE ROYAL AUSTRALASIAN News COLLEGE OF SURGEONS MAY 2013 Vol: 12 No:10 UpToDate, the only reliable clinical resource that anticipates your The Golden Nov/Dec Correspondence to Surgical News should be sent to: Scalpel games 2011 - a test of surgical skill questions, then helps you find accurate answers quickly – often in [email protected] Letters to the Editor should be sent to: [email protected] the time it takes to go from one patient to another.
    [Show full text]
  • Same Difference a Comparison of International Health Systems England • U.S
    SAME DIFFERENCE A COMPARISON OF INTERNATIONAL HEALTH SYSTEMS ENGLAND • U.S. • GERMANY INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................01 HEALTHCARE IN ENGLAND, THE U.S. AND GERMANY ....................................................02 THE CHANGING ENVIRONMENT .................................................................................. 08 COMMISSIONING RESPONSES .................................................................................. 13 CASE STUDY: UK........................................................................................................ 15 CHANGING CARE MODELS: PROVIDERS .......................................................... 16 CASE STUDY: U.S. .............................................................................................20 CHANGING CARE MODELS: PRIMARY CARE ............................................22 TECHNOLOGY ..........................................................................................24 CASE STUDY: GERMANY .....................................................................26 CONCLUSION ..................................................................................28 UNDERSTANDING THE TERMS WE USE ...................................30 REFERENCES ............................................................................ 31 PRODUCED BY THE BDO CENTRE FOR GLOBAL HEALTHCARE EXCELLENCE & INNOVATION NOVEMBER 2016 A COMPARISON OF INTERNATIONAL HEALTH SYSTEMS | SAME DIFFERENCE 01 INTRODUCTION
    [Show full text]
  • REPORT to the EMCDDA by the Reitox National Focal Point the NETHERLANDS DRUG SITUATION 2010
    REPORT TO THE EMCDDA by the Reitox National Focal Point THE NETHERLANDS DRUG SITUATION 2010 FINAL VERSION As approved by the Scientific Committee of the Netherlands National Drug Monitor (NDM) on the 22nd of December 2010 1 This National Report was supported by grants from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS), and the Ministry of Security and Justice. This report was written by Margriet van Laar1 Guus Cruts1 André van Gageldonk1 Marianne van Ooyen-Houben2 Esther Croes1 Ronald Meijer2 Toine Ketelaars1 1Trimbos Institute (Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction). 2Scientific Research and Documentation Centre (WODC), Ministry of Security and Justice. 2 Members of the Scientific Committee of the Netherlands National Drug Monitor (NDM) Mr. prof. dr. H.G. van de Bunt, Erasmus University Rotterdam Mr. prof. dr. H.F.L. Garretsen, Tilburg University (chair) Mr. dr. P.G.J. Greeven, Novadic-Kentron Mr. prof. dr. R.A. Knibbe, Maastricht University Mr. dr. M.W.J. Koeter, Amsterdam Institute for Addiction Research (AIAR) Mr. prof. dr. D.J. Korf, Bonger Institute of Criminology, University of Amsterdam Ms. prof. dr. H. van de Mheen, Addiction Research Institute Rotterdam (IVO) Mr. dr. C.G. Schoemaker, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) Mr. A.W. Ouwehand, Organization Care Information Systems (IVZ) Mr. mr. A.W.M van der Heijden, MA, Public Prosecution Service (OM) Observers Mrs. mr. R. Muradin, Ministry of Security and Justice Mrs. drs. W.M. de Zwart, Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport Additional consultant Mr.
    [Show full text]
  • Conducting a Psychosocial and Lifestyle Assessment As Part of An
    Koetsier et al. BMC Health Services Research (2021) 21:611 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-021-06635-6 RESEARCH Open Access Conducting a psychosocial and lifestyle assessment as part of an integrated care approach for childhood obesity: experiences, needs and wishes of Dutch healthcare professionals L. W. Koetsier1*, M. M. A. van Mil1, M. M. A. Eilander1, E. van den Eynde2, C. A. Baan3, J. C. Seidell1 and J. Halberstadt1 Abstract Background: The causes and consequences of childhood obesity are complex and multifaceted. Therefore, an integrated care approach is required to address weight-related issues and improve children’s health, societal participation and quality of life. Conducting a psychosocial and lifestyle assessment is an essential part of an integrated care approach. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences, needs and wishes of healthcare professionals with respect to carrying out a psychosocial and lifestyle assessment of childhood obesity. Methods: Fourteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with Dutch healthcare professionals, who are responsible for coordinating the support and care for children with obesity (coordinating professionals, ‘CPs’). The following topics were addressed in our interviews with these professionals: CPs’ experiences of both using childhood obesity assessment tools and their content, and CPs’ needs and wishes related to content, circumstances and required competences. The interviews comprised open-ended questions and were recorded and transcribed verbatim. The data was analysed using template analyses and complemented with open coding in MAXQDA. Results: Most CPs experienced both developing a trusting relationship with the children and their parents, as well as establishing the right tone when engaging in weight-related conversations as important.
    [Show full text]
  • Clinical Governance: the Next Hype?
    Maltese Medical Journal, 2000; 12(1,2): 31 31 All rights reserved Clinical Governance: the next hype? Marie-Klaire Farrugia * *Senior House Officer, Department of Orthopaedics and Trauma Correspondence: Dr M K Farrugia, E-mail: [email protected] Introduction Evidence Based Practice The recent wave of strategies geared at improving the Evidence Based Practice is about basing one's quality of the NHS and combating medicolegal actions practice on the best accepted evidence to date. This in the UK has resulted in the accumulation of a number requires a basic infrastructure which will provide this of hyped-up terms, the latest of which is Clinical continuously-updated information. It entails information Governance. Clinical Governance is to be the main technology which will enable access to specialist vehicle for continuously improving the quality of databases such as the Cochrane Collaboration (www. patient care and developing the capacity to maintain cochrane.co.uk) and facilitated access to updated high standards. libraries4. As from June 1999, the British Health Act has placed a duty on each primary care trust and each NHS trust to Audit make arrangements for the purpose of monitoring and improving the quality of healthcare provided to patients. Assessing whether one's practice is actually up to the A recent update of the NHS Plan (www.nhs.uk! required standard relies on audit. All clinicians in the nationalplan/nhsplan.htm), published in July 2000, UK are now expected to participate in audit programs, explains how this move is to be governed by the and there is greater emphasis on evidence-based National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) ­ practice and adherence to national frameworks and www.nice.org.uk - which will set standards and recommendations made by the NICE.
    [Show full text]