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The concept of clinical governance includes how we conduct ourselves as individuals – that is, our ‘personal conduct’ in ‘controlling, regulating, directing or overseeing’ the ‘assessment and management of a person’s health to support optimal outcomes’, where ‘outcomes’ includes the ‘experience of care’.

Regulation can support clinical governance.  This is particularly palpable in aged care reform, where new legislation and revised standards shine a spotlight on clinical governance in way that has not been done in the Australian aged care system before.

Many of the provisions introduced by the Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment (Royal Commission Response) Act 2022 will enhance clinical governance in aged care – this is how.

The concept of candour is not new. Being candid means being honest, which includes ‘complete openness and transparency.’ Exercising candour in healthcare is challenging for multiple reasons.

Last week (on 15 November 2021) new NDIS Practice Standards (Standards) came into force in relation to severe dysphagia. Under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Provider Registration and Practice Standards) Rules 2018 (Cth), the Standards specify minimum requirements regarding the quality of supports and services to be provided by registered NDIS providers (Providers).

Restrictive practices are often used to manage the behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) in aged care. However while restrictive practices may have a clinical foundation in this sense, they are not necessarily driven by clinical need.

Regulatory changes to the use of restraint in aged care (now referred to as restrictive practices, in line with the NDIS Standards) came into effect on 1 July 2021. These amendments require that aged care providers ensure restrictive practices ‘must only be used in a way that supports good clinical practice and provides safe and improved care for consumers’.