PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Kevin Stewart
AU  - Ben Bray
AU  - Rhona Buckingham
TI  - Improving quality of care through national clinical audit
AID  - 10.7861/futurehosp.3-3-203
DP  - 2016 Oct 01
TA  - Future Hospital Journal
PG  - 203--206
VI  - 3
IP  - 3
4099  - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/3/3/203.short
4100  - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/3/3/203.full
SO  - Future Hosp J2016 Oct 01; 3
AB  - The UK's national health services are unique in having a well established programme of national clinical audits and databases across medical, surgical and mental health conditions. The Royal College of Physicians’ (RCP) Clinical Effectivess and Evaluation Unit leads many of the largest and most mature audits in partnership with specialist societies, other colleges, patient groups and academic institutions. In this paper, we shall trace the development of national audit over the last 2 decades, explore the mechanisms by which this has helped improve care and discuss how national clinical audits and databases can best support quality improvement in the NHS of the future.