BACKGROUND Clinical governance has become a core component of health policy and services management in many countries in recent years. Yet tools for measuring its development are limited. We therefore created the Clinical Governance Development Index (CGDI), aimed to measure implementation of expressed government policy in New Zealand. METHODS We developed a survey which was distributed in 20...

On first reading, Stephen Bolsin’s editorial presents an encouraging and optimistic view of the way in which medical clinicians see their future roles and responsibilities regarding maintaining standards in Australian health care (Bolsin 2001). Referring to the Bristol case (Bolsin 1999; Hindle 1998), Bolsin says that past lapses provide "unequivocal guidance to doctors in both clinical and man...

Individual competence Doctors “must be committed to lifelong learning and be responsible for maintaining the medical knowledge and clinical and team skills necessary for the provision of quality care”.1 The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) also stresses the importance of lifelong learning. The NMC recognises that health care is an area of constant change that necessitates a dynamic approach ...

As stated in the Foreword to this worthy book, many of the qualities of clinical governance are difficult to assess and, although attitudes towards it are positive, its implementation requires much skill and commitment. The challenge for the editors of this book was to assemble a volume that engages, informs and is above all else practical and usable. The approach taken is appropriate and strai...

Stem cells are characterized by two defining features, the ability to self-renew and to differentiate into highly specialized cell types. The POU homeodomain transcription factor Oct4 (Pou5f1) is an essential mediator of the embryonic stem cell state and has been implicated in lineage specific differentiation, adult stem cell identity, and cancer. Recent description of the regulatory networks w...

CONTEXT This paper describes a very simple, non-threatening method for improving communication and sharing learning points. OBJECTIVE To test whether sharing anonymised reporting of problems and helpful hints is acceptable and useful to staff. DESIGN A pink slip (pinkie) was designed and made available in every clinic venue. All staff were asked to write about any episodes where practice wa...

Introduction The standards of service delivery should be those that allow you to practise as a competent clinician. You may be competent but be unable to perform or practise to a competent level if the resources available to you are inadequate, or other colleagues have insufficient knowledge or skills to support you. You cannot be expected to take all the responsibility for ensuring that the re...