What is Information Governance?

You have probably heard of Clinical Governance or Social Care Governance, which provide a way for organisations and individuals to continuously improve the quality of health and social care and ensure high standards of care are provided. You may be aware of Research Governance, which defines the good practice guidelines necessary to ensure health and social care research complies with scientific and ethical standards. Senior personnel in large organisations will also be involved in Corporate Governance, which is the way that organisations are able to achieve their business objectives and meet the necessary standards of accountability and integrity.

Information Governance sits alongside these other governance frameworks and is to do with the way organisations process or handle information. It covers personal information, relating to patients/service users and employees and corporate information such as financial and accounting records.

Information Governance brings together all the rules, whether legal or simply best practice, that apply to the handling of information, supporting:

• high quality care
• compliance with the law and the Information Governance Toolkit
• implementation of central advice and guidance, and
• Year on year on improvement on Information Governance Assurance of the Trust.

What does Information Governance cover?

Information Governance covers:

• Data protection and confidentiality
• Information sharing for care and for non-care purposes
• Information security and information risk management
• Information quality
• Records management for both clinical and corporate information