Management of postoperative urinary retention.

Clinical governance has been described as 'the total of all factors that make the National Health Service, and the place in which you work, safe (Lilley, 1999). The term 'clinical governance' was used for the first time in the White Paper, The New NHS: modern, dependable (DoH, 1997), in which the government stated its commitment to giving the people of the United Kingdom a quality health service. Clinical governance is the framework for driving this quality service. It encompasses clinical effectiveness, risk management, fitness to practise and a patient-focused culture, all of which are underpinned by an organisation that supports the ethos.