Useful Resources
The following resources should be useful to clinical audit professionals. All of these have been reviewed by the Clinical Audit Support Centre and come recommended.
Publications on Clinical Audit
Principles for Best Practice in Clinical AuditPrinciples for Best Practice in Clinical Audit was published in 2002 and is endorsed by the Healthcare Commission and National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. The document includes detailed information on how to prepare for and undertake a clinical audit project and is available via Radcliffe Medical Press Limited.
A Practical Handbook for Clinical AuditThis document was published by the Clinical Governance Support Team in March 2005. The handbook provides comprehensive guidance for clinical audit professionals and includes sections on - definitions of clinical audit and research, criteria for good clinical audit, self assessment tool for clinical audit departments and advice on patient involvement.
Other useful resources for clinical audit
Searching for Best PracticeThe NHS library is an invaluable website for healthcare professionals and acts as a wonderful signpost to many excellent resources. NHS Library is a particularly useful resources for searching for best available evidence and determining clinical audit criteria and standards. All documents on the site have been peer reviewed and should therefore be high quality. Visitors to the site can view latest articles and search specialist libraries such as Cochrane and Medline. It is also possible to access Principles for Best Practice in Clinical Audit via the site: www.library.nhs.uk
Sample size calculatorRaosoft’s free Sample Size Calculator is an excellent resource that calculates appropriate samples. We would advise that in order to gain a statistically valid sample the following rules are observed. What margin of error can you accept? 5% What confidence level do you need? 95% What is the response distribution? 50%
http://www.raosoft.com/samplesize.html