OBJECTIVE To investigate systematically participation in audit of NHS hospital pharmacists in the United Kingdom. DESIGN Questionnaire census survey. SETTING All NHS hospital pharmacies in the UK providing clinical pharmacy services. SUBJECTS 462 hospital pharmacies. MAIN MEASURES Extent and nature of participation in medical, clinical, and pharmacy audits according to hospital manageme...

Last year in this journal Hopkins' reviewed the various approaches to "medical audit", and looked at how such audit is likely to develop over the next few years. The essence of his article seems to be that medical audit, if successful, should improve the quality of care. However, Hopkins can provide no evidence that any of the three approaches to medical audit which he outlines achieves this ob...

While the main thrust of medical audit has been towards improving clinical performance, there has been increasing recognition of its impact as a method of continuing medical education. Thus, the Royal College of Physicians stated that "education is the most useful product of audit,"' and the Royal College of Surgeons noted the educational importance of audit "for both seniors and juniors."' Fur...

Two cases of carcinoma of the stomach presenting during the same month and dying within four weeks of one another less than one year later are presented. One was treated symptomatically and the other received radical surgery. The care they received depended on decisions about diagnosis and treatment; the outcomes of these and the difficulties involved in evaluating monetary costs and quality of...

Audit is the process used by health professionals to assess, evaluate and improve the care of patients in a systematic way in order to enhance their health and quality of life. There are many different ways of conducting medical audit and it carries a great benefit to practice such as improving efficiency and clinical error, demonstrating a good care, stimulating education and promoting higher ...

The role of performance measurements and clinical indicators has changed from being a minor component in the management of health care to one where the demands for greater accountability, safety, efficiency, and quality have accentuated the role of measurement and reporting. For those who have been involved in the development of indicators this will be seen as progress. However, the increased d...