Last update:

   01-Oct-2020
 

Arch Hellen Med, 37(5), September-October 2020, 663-670

ORIGINAL PAPER

Investigation of the perceptions on clinical governance of health professionals of two public hospitals

C. Platis,1 C. Maggou,1 V. Alikari,2 P. Theofilou,3 A. Dreliozi,4 T. Bellali5
1School of Social Sciences, Hellenic Open University, Patra,
2Department of Nursing, University of West Attica, Athens,
3General Directorate of Healthcare Services, Ministry of Health, Athens,
4Second Regional Healthcare Authority of Attica, Pireus,
5Department of Nursing, International University of Greece, Thessaloniki, Greece

OBJECTIVE Investigation of the perceptions of health professionals in two public hospitals regarding clinical governance in Greece's hospital sector.

METHOD The study involved 280 employees of all specialties and educational levels working in two Greek regional public hospitals (the General Hospital of Volos and the General University Hospital of Larissa). The Clinical Governance Climate Questionnaire (CGCQ) was used as a tool to measure the organizational climate of clinical governance. The questionnaire consists of 60 items scored on a 5-point Likert-type scale, ranging from 1=strongly agree, to 5=strongly disagree. The study was conducted in the period January–March 2017. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), version 21.0 was used for data analysis. The level of statistical significance was set at 5%.

RESULTS The current organizational climate of both hospitals regarding clinical governance features was not rated as particularly supportive, as most aspects of the climate were rated as moderate to slightly positive, with some differences between the hospitals. Specifically, the employees of the General University Hospital of Larissa, and in particular women, ranked the "Clinical Risk Management" factor at a lower level than the employees of the General Hospital of Volos. The doctors of the General University Hospital of Larissa recorded lower average scores for "Clinical Risk Management", "Fair Penalty Implementation" and "Collaboration" factors than the doctors of the General Hospital of Volos. Older health professionals perceived factors such as "Fair Enforcement", "Fellowship", and "Opportunities for Education and Development" more positively than their younger colleagues.

CONCLUSIONS The health policy implemented in the hospitals should include actions involving all health professionals. The opportunities for continuing education and development constitute a critical tool for both identifying shortcomings and developing strategies enabling hospital staff to take initiatives.

Key words: Clinical governance, Organizational climate, Organizational culture, Quality of health services.


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