How goes the night, watchman? An overview of the first annual clinical governance reports (1999/2000) from acute trusts in an English NHS region.

A review of 21 annual clinical governance reports for the period up to April 2000 reveals significant variation in presentation and content. There are certain common themes discernible, particularly concerns about audit and clinical incident reporting by doctors, and the frequent organisational separation of risk from other elements of clinical governance. Patient involvement and reference to a specific model for quality attainment were infrequent. It is concluded that while these reports can give insights into the perceived priorities of organisations and thus could stimulate others to consider their own approach, the value of these reports as a means of performance management or as a vehicle for informing users is uncertain.