The purpose of this paper is to offer a pragmatic definition of clinical excellence.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to offer a pragmatic definition of clinical excellence.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is a conceptual review of key studies relating to clinical excellence.
Findings
The pursuit of clinical excellence can be profitably considered in terms of 15 pillars of excellence comprising “technical” pillars, “personal” pillars, and “future” pillars. The five technical pillars are: evidence‐based thinking and practice; professional and peer accreditation; decision support systems; effectiveness and efficiency; learning and risk management. The five personal pillars comprise: interpersonal skills; collaboration and leadership; resilience and stress management; user involvement; moral principles. The five future pillars consist of: policy and succession planning; teaching and training; innovation; research and publications; income‐resource generation.
Originality/value
These 15 pillars of excellence may serve as an aide‐memoire for clinicians in their professional practice, as a pragmatic framework for both individual and organizational appraisal, accreditation, revalidation and reward systems, and as a teaching tool for a range of health‐care professionals.
Details
Keywords
Jane Hughes, Saima Ahmed, Paul Clarkson, Sue Davies, Karen Stewart and David Challis
It was hypothesised that there were variations in health and social care services available for older people with dementia and their carers, and that measurement of this between…
Abstract
Purpose
It was hypothesised that there were variations in health and social care services available for older people with dementia and their carers, and that measurement of this between localities was possible. The purpose of this paper is to present a framework for examining this.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a case study approach, data from national surveys of local authorities providing social care and National Health Services Trusts providing old age mental health services conducted in 2014/2015 in England were used. From these, indicators of variation in services for people with dementia and their carers in different geographical areas were created. Measurement of the presence/absence of each service permitted the creation of a service mix score for each area.
Findings
The framework comprised 16 attributes each with indicators describing the characteristics of the organisations providing the services; the skill mix of community mental health teams for older people; and the health care and social care services available in localities. Variation was evident, confirmed by quartile analysis and exemplars, suggesting that older people with dementia and their carers in different localities are likely to experience differences in the range of provision available, particularly social care services.
Originality/value
The case study approach used achieved its objectives, and the resultant framework has potential for generalisability and utility, given acceptable ecological validity and discriminant validity in identifying variations in service mix. It could be used in both research and practice.