Clinical audit--process and outcome for improved clinical practice.
Audit is a key aspect of everyday clinical care and essential for the safe as well as efficient functioning of any clinical environment. This applies to clinical care both within primary practice and secondary care within a hospital environment. The undertaking of an audit allows the clinician to analyse his or her own clinical practice in relation to current guidance or 'gold standard' parameters to enable best practice within all aspects of patient care to be implemented. This paper aims to explore the origins and importance of clinical audit as well as the various processes involved in undertaking it successfully.


CONCLUSIONS
This article will enable clinicians to understand the importance of audit and how to incorporate it into their everyday practice.
Restorative Dentistry Department, St George's NHS Trust, London.
Shabana
S
Burn
Len
L
D'Cruz
D054976:Clinical Governance; D019230:Dental Audit; D006801:Humans; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D010348:Patient Care Team