Following the receipt of a notification of an appropriate clinical performance issue, CliPSS will carry out an initial examination of the matter. If CliPSS and/or the referring party considers the matter is a risk to patient safety and requires further preliminary assessment (to determine if a comprehensive performance assessment is required) a CliPSS trained Assessor can conduct a CliPSS Rapid Clinical Review (Rapid Review). The following de-identified information will be considered by the Assessor:
- a summary of the concerns about the clinician's professional performance
- information about the setting in which the concerns arose – for example, if the clinician practices in a tertiary or rural facility; whether concerns arose in an inpatient or outpatient setting, etc
- what action, if any, has been taken at the District or facility level in response to the concerns
- a copy of the medical record for any patient/s who has/have been treated by the clinician, and whose treatment gave rise to the concerns about that clinician's professional performance.
The CliPSS Assessor will be asked to provide an opinion based on the following four questions:
- Are the events giving rise to concerns factually verified in the available documentation?
- Is there prima facie evidence to support the alleged concerns? (eg documented serious adverse outcomes, mortality, significant morbidity that is potentially attributable to the performance of this clinician).
- If the concerns were subsequently proven to be true, would this clinician’s ongoing practice represent a substantial and specific risk to patient safety?
- If the concerns were subsequently proven to be true, what would be the least onerous action that could be taken to protect patients?
The CliPSS Assesors formulated opinion will assist CliPSS and the referring party in the following matters:
- Is it appropriate to offer a performance assessment to this practitioner?
- Do any further actions need to be taken to manage risk to patients?
Depending upon the outcome of the Rapid Clinical Review, the matter will either progress through the CliPSS process or return to the referring party for further management.
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