Clinical governance development: learning from the New Zealand experience

The development of clinical governance in New Zealand has been pivotal to the country's health policy since 2009. Some of the key findings from one component of a national assessment project, which involved interviews with health professionals and managers at 19 of the country's 20 district health boards, are reviewed here. Key lessons for clinical governance are that: clinical governance needs to be clearly defined; it requires robust management-clinical partnerships along with a multi-layered developmental strategy and investment in training; and it also requires organisational arrangements such as a clinical board. The New Zealand emphasis on clinical governance has been positive for health professionals but, at this stage, it is not possible to assess its broader impact.