Clinical governance supports the standard and compliance of a health care organisation’s clinical performance to assure all stakeholders of the safety, quality and continuous improvements of the services provided. Consumers and partnerships are central to identifying safety and quality issues and the solutions that must be implemented.
South Western Sydney PHN (SWSPHN) funds mental health services within a stepped mental health framework, as well as delivers service intake, triage and allocation. It is critical that SWSPHN delivered these programs with robust clinical governance which embeds and monitors quality, safety and equity. SWSPHN engaged Alaya Partners to review the mental health program’s clinical governance.
Alaya interviewed stakeholders and conducted full review of existing clinical governance mechanisms using a gap analysis methodology. The gap analysis included:
- Each program’s defined scope and service delivery guidelines and requirements
- Current internal clinical governance mechanisms and processes including committees and councils
- Any issues / gaps / foreseen risks that require mitigation through clear governance
- Current data collections and audit processes
The gap analysis report presented recommendations to strengthen clinical governance across four core areas:
- SWSPHN’s Program Governance
- PHN Service Delivery – Intake and Allocations
- Program Delivery for SWSPHN contractors
- Consumers and Carers
Alaya’s consultants partnered with PHN staff across multiple business units to develop the SWSPHN Mental Health Clinical Governance Framework and an array of supporting processes, policies and procedures for internal staff and sub-contractors to implement across its mental health programs and services.
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