Book excerpt: This new text is an accessible and practical guide to clinical governance in healthcare, designed to help practitioners and students deliver quality care to patients and improve the patient experience at every level. Grounded in the application of clinical governance, it explains in detail what it looks like in practice. Using common examples of clinical governance challenges, this book gives real and practical insights into how individuals can contribute to clinical governance in a range of healthcare settings. Each chapter includes case studies, reflective activities, tips and real experiences to help readers apply the theory to practice, and identify areas in which they can improve the patient experience. This is key reading for all healthcare practitioners. "In this excellent new book on clinical Governance, Mary Gottwald and Gail Lansdown distil down what this complex topic encompasses. They put bones on the individual components and lead the reader easily through the topic, so that he or she ends up with a good understanding of how the system is supposed to function and their individual responsibilities as a clinician, academic, trainer or manager ... I wish that I had been able to read a book such as this when I started off. It would have saved me a lot of time and trouble getting my head around all the aspects of this vital topic. Providing a reliable, safe, high quality service is the major challenge for all of us working in health services, so this fine book is very welcome." Dr Peter Featherstone MPhil, FRCP, Lead for Clinical Governance in Acute MedicineConsultant Physician and Honorary Medical Senior Lecturer Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust "The book has been developed for pre- and post - registration students, but it will appeal to a wider audience, particularly those who want more knowledge of Governance and its antecedents. The outline of Chapters at the start helpfully leads the reader the appropriate section, and within each section the authors attempt to link clinical governance theory to practical examples. This is further emphasised by the use of reflective questions at the end of each chapter. The chapter on Clinical Audit is excellent, and is of use to anyone including medical staff in terms of how Clinical Audits should be conducted. It is an excellent, easy read journey through all aspects of Clinical Governance and its application to patient experience, safety and effective senses, ultimately quality of care." Sharon Linter, Director of Quality and Governance/ Executive Nurse, Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust