Putting the Awe into Clinical Audit: becoming a visible champion

Niamh LuceySt Vincent’s Healthcare Group

What is clinical audit? Librarians’

Involvement

Evolution What it has meant for us

How this might benefit you

Getting involved in core clinical functions in a healthcare organisation is critical to our survival

• Academic teaching hospital• Voluntary• Part of St Vincent’s Healthcare

Group• Group wide services –

Clinical AuditLibrary & Information Services

• Pictures of Library/us

Clinical Audit & SVHG

• History of it• How the process works – role of auditors, role

of Clinical Audit Facilitator• Role of the Clinical Audit Committee – review,

risk rating, audits are repeated, can become part of the focus for quality improvement initiatives in the organisation

Librarian involvement

• Clinical Audit Committee established 2003• Librarian involvement straightaway.• This was very fortunate for me!

Evolution joke

We became more involved…we became more evolved?

We sit on a multidisciplinary committee

• It is Group wide• Members include: Group CEO, Chief Operating

Officer, Directors of Nursing, Consultants, Senior Nursing and Allied Health Staff, NCHDs etc.

We have a VOICE on this Committee

• We are equal• We read submissions and reports and are

invited to make comment

We are an integral part of the Clinical Audit Process

• Two of your 5 a day thing here

• Proposed clinical audits must have carried out a literature search (copy of form?)

• Clinical Audit Co-Ordinator sends prospective auditors to us to confirm the standards/guidelines or to find them in the first place

We found extra work for ourselves

• We are able to identify audits that we can help with

• We see where the clinical priorities/quality improvement priorities are for the organisation

Clinical Audit Study Days

Own audits

Relationships

• Clinical Auditor• Consultants• Senior Management Team

What it has meant for us

• More work!• No extra resources• More visible• More valued • Go-to for expert advice

Be Safe: Be Seen

We are the champions, my friends…

Thank You

• All images with permission or with creative commons licence

Niamh Lucey

Head of Library & Information Services

St Vincent’s University Hospital

Elm Park, Dublin 4

01 221 5032

n.lucey@svhg.ie / niamh.lucey@ucd.ie