Clinical Guidelines and Paths

There are two main strategies currently being used to improve the coordination and quality of care that we provide at RCH:

Development and implementation of clinical guidelines
Development and implementation of clinical paths

Clinical Guidelines

Clinical guidelines are 'best practice' statements, designed to guide clinicians in decision-making in practice. Guidelines at RCH are created through a systematic process, including:

evaluation of the research evidence and consensus/ expert opinion
involvement of multidisciplinary stakeholder groups
evaluation and approval of the draft by the Hospital Clinical Guidelines Reference Group
implementation of strategies to ensure that clinicians are aware of and use the guidelines
evaluation of the use of guidelines in practice and their impact on clinical care and patient outcomes.

For more information about the Hospital Clinical Guidelines, including links to current guidelines and information on the development process, please see the Hospital Clinical Guidelines website.

Clinical Paths

Clinical Paths outline steps in the management of predictable patient groups, often including timeframes and expected outcomes.

Advantages of a Clinical Path is:

Time saving
Maintains / improves standard of care
Encourages the application of evidence to practice
Informs and educates staff
Allows coordination of management across multidisciplinary teams
Improves organisation and sequencing of events during an admission

For more information about the clinical paths, including links to current paths and information on the development process, please see the Clinical Paths website.

Contact us

Quality and Improvement Department

9345 4892

Last Updated 27-May-2008. Authorised by: Annie Moulden. Enquiries: Lee Fairly.