patient satisfaction rating of good, very good or excellent (Patient satisfaction survey carried out by Howard Warwick & Associates, Jan - Sept 2009)
Our quality assurance strategy
General Healthcare Group (GHG) has in place a total quality and continuous improvement strategy throughout the organisation. Each element of the strategy is integral to the development and delivery of best quality, best practice and best outcomes in everything that we do.
At BMI Healthcare, in addition to the company-wide initiatives, there is an extensive schedule of clinical governance and quality assurance processes specifically designed to create and sustain high standards in health care.
All BMI Healthcare pathology laboratories are either working towards or have achieved the Clinical Pathology Accreditation.
Clinical Governance
In 1998 the Department of Health published A First Class Service - Quality in the NHS. That document defines clinical governance as:
"A framework through which NHS organisations are accountable for continuously improving the quality of their services and safeguarding high standards of care by creating an environment in which excellence in clinical care will flourish."
At General Healthcare Group (GHG) we are committed to the same fundamental approach. Each BMI Healthcare hospital has in place a series of processes to achieve high quality patient care and continuous improvement through the implementation of a multi-professional clinical governance strategy, incorporating:
Use and review of evidence-based clinical effectiveness and clinical quality information
Compliance with and achievement of specific national standards and quality assurance processes that relate to services provided by each hospital
Effective employee development and involvement programmes in continuous improvement
Communication and feedback processes to effectively monitor and respond to comments, complaints, concerns and requirements of patients, clinicians, employees, local communities and other stakeholders.
Our clinical governance strategy is achieved through:
Clinical audit
Nursing audit
Risk management
Pharmacy and medicines control
Training, continuous professional development and induction
Complaints policy and procedure
Internal audits, reporting and reviews
Compliance to regulation and governance
Risk management
We have a pro-active approach to managing risk and potential uncertainty. Risk management is co-ordinated and supported by the following corporate groups:
Group Risk Management Committee
Group Health and Safety Committee
Compliance and Assurance Committee
Quality and Risk Management Functional Group
Our risk management strategy is intended to:
Protect individuals from the risk of infection, disease and illness
Protect individuals from the risk of adverse clinical occurrences
Protect individuals and property from the risk of accidents, incidents and dangerous occurrences
Protect individuals and property from loss or theft
Comply with Health and Safety regulations, identify, assess and protect individuals and property from related risks including Fire Authority requirements
Comply with environmental regulations, identify, assess and protect individuals and property from related risks including waste management for both clinical and non clinical waste
Provide training to all site personnel to minimise risks and to effectively implement contingency plans in the case of emergencies and incidents.
As part of our risk management process, we use SENTINEL, an accident and incident software system. Using SENTINEL incident report forms and data entry into the system, we track, trend and analyse accidents and incidents likely to occur or that have occurred. This identifies areas of practice that require corrective actions, additional training or further risk management initiatives to eliminate or reduce future risks.
From this system data is provided to each unit on its performance and to support the benchmarking of best practice. This is a continuing process throughout the organisation facilitated by the Group Risk Management Committee.
Health and safety, environmental engineering and catering audits are also carried out on a regular basis in all units. Findings are collated and control measures documented, prioritised and implemented.
