title: Clinical audit: still an important tool for improving healthcare.
abstract: The use of data to challenge and improve healthcare has a long and distinguished history but has often failed to bring about expected improvements. It has never become fully embedded in clinical practice, probably because data alone are insufficient to drive change. There is now a greater appreciation that changing and improving healthcare requires changing behaviours. Clinical audit remains one of the important tools that can be used to facilitate such change.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatric Respiratory Medicine, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Glasgow, UK.
authors.forename: James Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Paton
authors.affiliation: Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, London, UK.
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ranmal
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatric Nephrology, Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, Bristol, UK.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dudley
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D054869:Clinical Audit / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D058996:Quality Improvement / Q000592:standards
keywords: Audit; Health Service