November 10, 2025At the recent Victorian Prevocational Medical Training Awards, Northern Doctors Education won the Award for Health Service Innovation and Excellence (Metro) for their Introduction to Clinical Governance Program.
The program encourages junior doctors to become involved in Quality, Safety and other governance processes. The program is overseen by Northern Doctors Education in conjunction with Dr Kristen Pearson, Medical Lead for Clinical Governance, creating both a centralised contact point for junior doctors and a means to promote clinical governance activities. Junior Medical Doctors (JMOs) are matched with mentors who will assist them to participate in National Standards or other Clinical Improvement Committees, complete audits and quality improvement projects, and to be involved in patient safety reviews such as Mortality and Morbidity audits and Clinical Incident reviews. Participants are required to write a report and/or reflection on the activity to demonstrate their learning. Whereas these activities previously occurred on an ad hoc basis, there is now a central record of participants that can provide certification of their involvement and provide advice as to how to incorporate these experiences in building CVs and applying for roles.
Dr Kim Jeffs, Director, Northern Doctors Education, said, “Previously junior doctor involvement in clinical governance relied heavily on serendipity of meeting an appropriate mentor, which limited Northern Doctors Education’s ability to support the JMOs and to maximise their learning and career benefits of their work. Northern Health was also missing out on the incredibly valuable perspectives of junior doctors. The program has the potential to lead to immediate improvements in the quality of care delivered to patients, as was evidenced by one audit of patient handover meetings which has already led to improvements. We hope that the program will inspire future leaders in healthcare and provide basic skills to start them on the path to continuous improvements in patient care.”
She added, “Although the Introduction to Clinical Governance Program only began in March 2025, we have seen considerable interest from junior doctors wishing to develop skills and apply an organisation lens to improving patient safety and quality of care. These are the doctors who will ensure that hospitals are even better places in the future.”
Dr Pearson said, “It is wonderful to formalise this program which gives me the opportunity to work closely with junior doctors on important topics such as documentation, deaths and clinical handover.”
Northern Health also congratulates our other nominees: Dr Jessica Gu (Prevocational Doctor of the Year, Health and Safety Representative of the Year), Susie Sangas (Lifetime Achievement Award), and Dr Carol Chong (Lifetime Achievement Award).
Featured image shows Dr Jeffs accepting the award.
