Standards for optical businesses

2.3 You have a system of clinical governance in place

Why is this Standard necessary?

Clinical governance is a systematic approach to maintaining and improving the quality of patient care within healthcare providers. You are a provider of a healthcare service and therefore have a responsibility to ensure that the care you provide to patients is of good quality and continuously improving.

To achieve this, your business:

  1. Has a system, appropriate to your practice, which allows staff to review and reflect on their work and identify and share good practice or where improvements are necessary;
  2. Learns from mistakes made by your organisation and staff and, where it is possible to do so, puts mechanisms in place to prevent reoccurrence;
  3. Audits patient records to identify themes and issues, and addresses any concerns that arise to ensure consistency and quality of patient care. The approach taken should be appropriate and proportionate to your business.