Clinical governance in primary care: Knowledge and information for clinical governance

Abstract

This is the last of five articles The new requirements of clinical governance are a challenge for everyone working in the NHS. If the quality of health care is to be improved, existing knowledge about effective clinical and organisational practice must be applied and new information to monitor and evaluate care must be generated and interpreted. Within individual general practices and primary care teams, all staff will have a role in obtaining and using information for clinical governance—whether for maintaining chronic disease registers, promoting evidence based practice, improving the organisation of services, or reporting on the outcomes of care. In primary care groups and trusts, there is greater emphasis on improving the health of the population. This requires the collection and aggregation of information across practices to assess health needs, reduce inequalities, and monitor the quality of care in comparison to agreed standards. In this paper, we discuss the additional knowledge that will be needed by all staff working in primary care and the challenges faced by leaders of primary care groups and trusts. We suggest where they can find relevant information. Everyone in primary care needs to be familiar with these sources if clinical governance is to succeed as a way to improve the quality of health care. #### Summary points Everyone in primary care needs to be familiar with the requirements of clinical governance if it is to succeed as a way to improve the quality of care Producing, collecting, and analysing primary care information is difficult, but some practices have already overcome these barriers Individuals and primary care group and trust leaders can do much to promote clinical governance, but problems remain Clinical governance has highlighted the need for additional knowledge and information on determinants of population health Many problems exist with producing, collecting, and analysing the necessary information; we …