From Mr M. E. Tomlin, MRPharmS
SIR,—There has been another clinical governance conference recently where pharmacy was represented.
The conference was in Exeter and the audience came from a broad range of disciplines encompassing chief executives of trusts, heath authorities, and primary care groups, general medical practitioners and specialists in clinical audit.
The conference room was full of posters that ranged from descriptions of early incident reporting in primary care to the illustration of the evolution of integrated care pathways in secondary care.
The three pharmacy posters were on:
The conference discussed the difficult decision point faced by chief executives when faced with the rare prospect of an investigation into clinical performance. It also looked at the challenges of clinical governance to primary care groups. The conference discussed the emergence of the term clinical governance and its inclusion of clinical audit and evidence-based medicine.
Three significant points were made about evidence-based medicine:
While everyone in health care can agree with the principles of clinical governance, the practical application is more difficult. This conference showed that pharmacists are not alone in struggling to translate this concept into clinical practice, but some areas are further ahead than others.
Mark Tomlin
Critical Care Directorate Pharmacist, Southampton General Hospital