Strengthening healthcare quality through identification of risk, improving quality standards and an outlier considering the integration between environmental status and human health

Introduction Even in editions of IJHG that are not themed, some commonality can usually be found. It was somewhat tricky in this issue as there was a clear outlier in the articles accepted for publication. While a common thread could be developed around identification of risk and improving quality in healthcare, the outlier brought in environmental, animal welfare and political perspectives. However, an unexpected paper in any collection can act as a “wake-up call” forcing us to re-think assumptions and establish new pathways of connectivity. I would hope that this issue’s outlier encourages other authors to be brave and to tackle subjects, which perhaps do not have a direct path back to our original remit of clinical governance (CG). Encouragement towards thinking more deeply and widely can only be a good thing for clinicians and academics to avoid becoming trapped in silos of our own creation.