Resources

This guide has a practical emphasis and focuses on how measurement tools can assist Boards to set the right tone of assurance in patient safety. It also offers governance questions to assist Board debate and dialogue.

Healthcare systems have historically reported on data for assurance, for performance and for improvement. Our reliance on organisational-wide indicators, is in itself not enough to demonstrate our systems of care are reliable. Boards should seek to expect:

• Board reports that present realtime data and its analysis
• Data that describes trends and patterns in how care is delivered
• Triangulation of different data sets to ensure the Board understands the many variables influencing how the healthcare system is performing
• Less reliance on aggregated data and averages, more reliance on data at a facility and department level.