Governance and Assurance

'Culture is what happens when no one is looking' – Gerard Seijts

Every organisation is unique and faces different challenges in ensuring that its governance systems, processes and people fully support a culture of safety.

Confirmation of whether governance has effectively embedded a culture of safety involves drawing information from multiple sources. Governance arrangements that include inappropriate measures of performance, such as those focusing on aspects of process rather than the fundamental purpose of reducing risk and improving outcomes, can hinder a culture of safety.

Gathering the correct information is the key to helping organisations identify what is working, what is not working and why.

'Creating cultures that support improvement'

Our goal is to maximise the chance of our clients achieving their organisation’s aims, whilst at the same time delivering a culture of safety.

Through our experienced, bespoke, multidisciplinary teams, Iodem works with its clients to identify and target areas where governance and assurance may not fully facilitate risk reduction.

We then provide support to implement effective improvement interventions. Our approach empowers our clients to build their own capabilities, in order to enable learning, improve performance and achieve sustainable change.

Our structured analysis and in-depth review can withstand scrutiny by external assessors, including the CQC and regulatory bodies.

'Rising to the challenge of patient and service user safety'

Using a range of diagnostic tools, Iodem provides a pro-active independent evidence-based perspective on challenges. For example:

• The reasons why governance systems did not identify an issue, and whether the remedial action taken provides robust assurance that the same set of circumstances could not happen again
• What needs to be changed within an organisation to identify issues of patient safety before they occur; we provide clear practical insights as to how that change might happen
• Practical advice and support in implementing solutions to any issues identified in line with the strategic development of the organisation
• Whether a programme of transformation has been effective, improved governance systems and protocols have been embedded within organisations
• Rolling out new systems and governance arrangements, ensuring that they are up to speed rapidly, without impacting upon the overall safety culture
• Assessing the impact on current systems, and the merger of services, to identify any impact on patient safety
• The interfaces between different systems, at department, service, and agency level, both internally and/or externally

'Evidence based interventions driving sustainable change'

Iodem provides a tailored response to governance issues. We recognise the uniqueness of our clients and their challenges, and avoid an off the peg formulaic response to their situation. Our reports include a well-structured methodology and analysis, which is systems based, and includes the identification of the interconnected contributory human and causal factors.

Governance is as much about communication as it is about culture, behaviours, processes and structures. Our recommendations are clear and unambiguous, and provide our clients with a road map to drive improvement and change, all while clearly aligning to the strategic objectives of the organisation.

We employ simple metrics that demonstrate the ‘before and after’ and importantly provide an early warning system that highlights whether interventions are working, allowing for rapid course adjustments.

Above all, we provide assurance to boards that what has been done is being done well, and we provide a plan and the support needed in relation to what can be done better.