Clinical Governance Climate Within Disability Service Organizations from the Perspective of Allied Health Professionals

Abstract

Within the healthcare service sector across many Western countries, clinical governance frameworks have been adopted to ensure consistent and effective service provision. There is merit in adopting such frameworks within disability service organizations as a mechanism to enhance service quality. This study explored whether disability service organizations exhibit organizational climates conducive to supporting clinical governance from the perspective of allied health professionals (AHPs). A total of 88 AHPs completed the Clinical Governance Climate Questionnaire via an online questionnaire. AHPs reported that planned quality improvement initiatives tend to be crisis‐driven within their organizations, with immediate and pressing work pressures taking precedence. AHPs also report that clinical risk data are routinely collected within their organizations, with a lack of consensus around how this information is used to improve practice. In addition, dedicated time for professional development was not available to many of the AHPs, and many reported the presence of hierarchies. Correlation analyses implied that planned quality improvement initiatives appear to be the lynchpin to ensuring quality service provision within disability service organizations. Further research into the organizational climate issues identified in this study is needed—from the perspective of all staff working within disability service organizations—in an effort to inform the development of strategies to effectively implement clinical governance in disability services.

Establishing clinical governance model in primary health care: A systematic review

“…Clinical governance is defined as “a framework that obliges health service providers to adhere to the principles of clinical service excellence, thereby holding them accountable for maintaining and enhancing the quality of the services they provide.”[ 10 11 12 ]…”