National bodies/societies
National Clinical Audit Advisory Group
www.dh.gov.uk/ab/NCAAG/index.htmNCAAG were established in 2008 to help drive forward the reinvigoration programme and provide a national focus for discussion and advice on matters relating to clinical audit. NCAAG have many responsibilities, including acting as a steering group to NCAPOP and as an advisory body to the Department of Health. Visitors to the website can find out more about NCAAG members and view meeting minutes, NCAAG’s programme of work and their latest news and press releases. There are also links on the website to Department of Health policies on national audit.
Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership
www.hqip.org.ukThe Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) is led by a consortium of the Royal College of Nursing, National Voices and the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges. In April 2008, HQIP gained responsibility for the management of the National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme. HQIP will initially take responsibility for running the 20 national audits that they inherited from the Healthcare Commission and will in time commission new audits as considered a priority by the Department of Health and National Clinical Audit Advisory Group.
Care Quality Commission
www.cqc.org.ukThe Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of all health and adult social care in England. The stated aim of the CQC is to make sure better care is provided for everyone, irrespective of where patients access this. The commission have a range of responsibilities, including: registration of health providers to ensure they meet common quality standards, monitoring and inspection of all health and adult social care, reporting outcomes of their work to the public. The CQC also have substantial enforcement powers and can fine or close those not meeting agreed healthcare standards.
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence
www.nice.org.ukNICE is an independent organisation responsible for providing national guidance on promoting good health. NICE helps health professionals implement national guidance by providing tools such as cost templates, audit criteria and slide sets. NICE develop clinical guidelines and technology appraisals, all of which have audit criteria attached. Visitors to the site can view all the above documents and resources and also subscribe to alerts and a monthly e-newsletter.
National Patient Safety Agency
www.npsa.nhs.ukThe National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) is a Special Health Authority created to co-ordinate the efforts of all those involved in healthcare, and more importantly to learn from, patient safety incidents occurring in the NHS. Visitors to the site can access Safety Matters newsletter and find out about forthcoming patient safety events. The website includes details on how to report an incident to the NPSA and patient safety alerts can also be reviewed. The health professional zone includes many excellent resources, including the Seven Steps to Patient Safety document in PDF format and information on root cause analysis and the incident decision tree.
National Audit Governance Group
www.nagg.nhs.ukNational Audit Governance Group are a group of clinical audit and governance experts spread across the UK. NAGG meet quarterly in London and aim to represent clinical governance professionals in relation to the key national decision making processes. The NAGG website includes a range of tools, including a calendar of forthcoming events and a forum where you can post ideas and ask questions to NAGG members.
International Society for Quality in Health Care
www.isqua.orgThe International Society for Quality in Health Care, is a non-profit, independent organisation with members in over 70 countries. ISQua hold an annual international conference and their website provides information of other international events in the field of quality assurance.