The National Screening Unit’s (NSU’s) Clinical Governance Group provides clinical, public health and strategic advice to support the delivery of high-quality national screening programmes in New Zealand.
Chair Dr Julia Peters says quality assurance and monitoring are absolutely fundamental to having effective screening programmes, and the Group’s role is to help ensure these processes are in place.
“Screening programmes have the potential to save many lives. But if we are going to have them, we have an ethical obligation to ensure they are as safe and effective as possible and of the highest quality.”
She says the group will provide advice on issues that are brought to its attention and will also request reports on a range of issues affecting the NSU’s programmes.
“Many of the NSU’s programmes have their own advisory groups that provide multidisciplinary advice, including on specific clinical and operational issues. The role of the Clinical Governance Group is to ensure a programme has all the right components operating at a national level.”
The Group met for the first time recently, and will meet quarterly for 12 months. After that time its terms of reference will be reviewed. Dr Peters says the review will be to ensure the Group is fulfilling its purpose, and if it is, she expects meetings to continue.
Specifically, the group is charged with providing advice on:
- screening practice (including its effectiveness, feasibility, value for money, likely harms and benefits, and impact on the health care system)
- social and ethical considerations in screening, including cultural considerations, and reducing inequalities both in access to screening and in outcomes of screening
- the systems needed in order to monitor the quality, including safety and effectiveness, of screening in New Zealand
- ways screening practice in New Zealand can maximise benefits and minimise harm
- the level of resources needed for high-quality screening.
A focus for the Group in the next 12 months will be supporting the NSU to ensure programmes have quality assurance and monitoring processes, and to provide endorsement of those processes already in place.
“Because the National Cervical Screening Programme and BreastScreen Aotearoa are well-established programmes, they already have well-developed quality assurance processes. With these programmes it is a matter of refinement, and keeping on top of new technology and other developments.
“However, some of the antenatal and newborn programmes are at an earlier stage, and there may be a greater need for the Group to have input into their monitoring, evaluation and quality standards.”
She says the Group will support the work already done throughout the screening sector.
“The Ministry of Health, the NSU and the whole screening sector does a fantastic job of providing high-quality programmes to New Zealanders. There are thousands of people working together every day to identify conditions or early changes, so action can be taken as soon as possible.
“Collectively, they have a positive impact on the lives of many people.”
Members of the Clinical Governance Group are:
- Dr Julia Peters (Chair), Chief Advisor Screening, NSU
- Jacqui Akuhata-Brown, Group Manager, NSU
- Dr Hazel Lewis, Clinical Advisor, Cancer Screening, NSU
- Clinical Leader, BreastScreen Aotearoa, NSU (to be appointed)
- Dr John Childs, National Clinical Director, Cancer Programme, Ministry of Health
- Dr Pat Tuohy, Chief Advisor Child and Youth Health, Ministry of Health
- Dr Joanne Dixon, Geneticist and Advisor to the Neonatal Screening Programme
- Norma Campbell, Midwifery Advisor, NZ College of Midwives.
