“Our main value is to do the right thing by the patient … The patient is at the heart of everything we do,” says Ann Highton, reiterating the point several times.
Clearly, it’s our Director of Governance’s heartfelt passion. It’s why she joined Remedy – and it’s why the leadership team was so keen for her to come on board. But how does governance fit into a healthcare system that often sees frontline clinicians as the only roles that really put the patient first?
Putting governance first
Ann’s the first to admit that governance can be a Cinderella specialism.
“It’s something not many people really understand. And if they do understand it, they often just pay lip service to it – and it’s last on the agenda,” she says.
“But I believe good governance equals improved patient safety and improved quality of care. If you don’t have good governance and you don’t respect the governance systems and processes, the organisation is subject to things going wrong quite easily. And that can put patient safety at risk.”
Grounded in governance
Ann’s enthusiasm for good governance has grown over more than 20 years of specialisation, proving its benefits in a wide variety of settings.
After starting her career as a physiotherapist, working both in the UK and overseas, she moved into what was then called clinical governance. Her role expanded into health and safety, and clinical audit, before taking on the role of deputy director of integrated governance in an acute Trust.
“In the 20 years since then, I’ve worked in acute hospitals and community settings – and I’m now working in the private setting,” she explains. “I’ve worked abroad twice and come back to the UK. I’ve worked for myself as director of my own company and my most recent role was as a deputy director of governance in the NHS.
“All the experience, skills and knowledge I’ve gained throughout my profession have enabled me to bring something special to Remedy. My values echo their values, which echo the values of the NHS. And the main one is that we all put the patient experience at the front and centre of everything we do.”
Values-driven business
It’s something that struck her from her earliest conversations with Remedy founder director Oliver Bailey and CEO Matt Marshall.
“People often tell you their organisation’s values but they’re just something they’ve learned,” she says. “But here, they’re so committed to doing the right thing – it comes from the senior leadership and is cascaded throughout the organisation. It’s not just something to say; it’s believed and embraced.
“A great example of this is in our board meetings. Governance and clinical risk are at the top of our agenda, with the CEO reporting in at the end. And that tells me where the emphasis really is. Putting the patient at the top of the agenda demonstrates the importance of the clinical element to Remedy.”
Good governance in all things
Ann’s role includes overseeing Remedy’s information governance systems and processes, plus corporate governance (effectively managing the Remedy board) and clinical governance (including adverse event reporting, complaints, feedback, litigation and clinical audit). She oversees procedural documents and clinical audits, to make sure Remedy continually improves systems and processes.
Another vital part of her role is acting as the link with her governance peers in the NHS, making sure Remedy’s governance systems align with the Trust’s governance systems – and that reporting and actions are done collaboratively.
“Remedy has a really strong reporting culture and we support people who report issues to us,” says Ann. “If something goes wrong – and sometimes it does – we’ll do a robust investigation, which is relayed back to the Trust. That means we have to have a really strong relationship with them.
“We decide on actions together and we have to prove that we’re open and transparent. We work in collaboration, making sure we get the right outcome for the patient.
“That’s really key for the role of governance. We focus very strongly on the end result – the learning from it. What have we learned that will stop it happening again? What can we change? What can we do better?
“Then the learning points go back through our organisation and we share that with the Trust, which further enhances our relationship. And one of the best elements of working as Director of Governance at Remedy is that we can share lessons from Trust to Trust.”
Growing governance
That focus on continuous improvement and promoting best practice is, Ann believes, vital.
She chairs – and was a founder member of – the Governance, Assurance and Risk Network, otherwise known as GARNet. A group of like-minded individuals, the network meets on a quarterly basis to share information and ideas about governance-related issues.
She’s a faculty member of the Good Governance Institute and a member of the Institute of Risk Management and the Chartered Governance Institute. She’s a qualified practitioner-level coach and works as an independent person with Lancashire Fire and Rescue.
Despite all this, Ann laughs off suggestions that she must never sleep.
“I do all this so I can maintain my professional credibility when talking to peers,” she explains. “Plus I want to keep my knowledge base current. It’s great to work with people who like governance – partly because there don’t seem to be many of them!
“It allows me to share my knowledge with them – and pick up things that they’ve learned. We can cross share information and lessons learned.”