Editorial: Strengthening clinical governance in primary health and community care

Abstract

Large numbers of people die each year in hospitals as a result of preventable errors. High profile cases like the Royal Bristol Infirmary in the UK or the King Edward Memorial Hospital in Western Australia highlight the problem in the popular media, putting pressure on governments, providers and the professions to improve safety and quality in hospitals. In Australia, the Quality in Australian Health Care study reviewed the medical records of 14,179 admissions to 28 hospitals and found that an adverse event occurred in 16.6% of cases, with 51% considered to have been preventable (Wilson et al., 1995).