title: Quality assurance in the United Kingdom.
abstract: In short, quality assurance in UK healthcare has developed since the mid-1980s driven by a series of national policy initiatives in the NHS, by increasing determination of the clinical professions to maintain standards, and by a general consumer movement to know more about public and professional services. Much has been achieved but there remains substantial debate about quality assurance leadership, coordination, funding and evaluation--or even what to call it.
authors.affiliation: Bristol Clinical Audit Unit, University of Bristol, UK.
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Shaw
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010344:Patient Advocacy; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000191:economics / Q000639:trends; D013222:State Medicine / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards*; D006113:United Kingdom