title: Individual practice and how to improve it.
abstract: Individual practice needs to be developed to improve effectiveness, safety and patient experience. Although good systems can support better individual performance, without personal development, individual practice can be a source of error. This, the final article in our series on the science of quality improvement, describes models of competence and practice and the causes of good or poor practice. We show how quality improvement techniques can be used to improve individual practice and how this can be incorporated into the appraisal process for doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals.
authors.affiliation: Professor of Primary and Prehospital Health Care, Community and Health Research Unit (CaHRU), Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool, Lincoln LN6 7TS, UK. nsiriwardena@lincoln.ac.uk.
authors.forename: A Niroshan
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Siriwardena
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Institute of Public Health, University of Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gillam
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D058005:General Practitioners / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D058996:Quality Improvement / Q000458:organization & administration*