Angela Hope

Clinical Governance and the role of the Lecturer/Practitioner in education in one British National Health Service (NHS) Trust

Meeting the Clinical Governance agenda is dependent fundamentally on staff education. When examined within and supported by the role of the Lecturer/Practitioner, a model of education for Clinical Governance begins to emerge. In order to implement this model and to simultaneously embrace the organizational change necessary to create a knowledgeable workforce, it is necessary to examine those factors that generate excellence in education on the ground. This paper will argue that the key determinant in developing excellence in the quality care is the presence of a rigorous system of staff education. It will argue through a short case study concerning one particular National Health Service (NHS) Trust that the role of the Lecturer/Practitioner can become instrumental in planning, assessing, maintaining and delivering quality education to clinical nurses for their roles in Clinical Governance. The paper will proceed to elucidate the interrelated factors underlying this assumption. The paper will conclude that Clinical Governance requires the recognition that service cultures and organization and styles are key to its growth. Yet although national action to support change and development are needed, there is no substitute for local inventiveness and backing. In this regard an exemplar of good practice is provided whereby the Lecturer/Practitioner role is being used as the vehicle to successfully address the issue of Clinical Governance by initiating the step change needed for excellence to occur.