Making an impact: exploring delegates’ perceptions of the clinical governance development programme

Aims to identify the positive and negative impact that the NHS Clinical Governance Support Team’s (CGST) Clinical Governance Development Programme (CGDP) was perceived to have (or failed to have) on delegates, working practices and work relationships. Data were collected with a random sample of 500 delegates who had participated in the CGDP. Indicates that the CGDP was successful in meeting its aims, with participants reporting that their views or behaviours had changed on a number of items. Subjects reported an increase in their skills, knowledge, clarity and structure in their work and improved communication between clinical teams. Participation in the CGDP had a positive impact on the individuals’ professional development. Major benefits were reported as: networking and sharing with other professionals from a diverse range of clinical and geographical areas, taking time to reflect and plan, and development of a new set of skills. Some participants who reported little or no progress attributed the main factors hindering change to shortage of time, resources, workforce migration and the debilitating impact of continuous change in the NHS.