title: Improving patient safety in a UK dental hospital: long-term use of clinical audit.
abstract: The improvement of patient safety has been a long-term aim of healthcare organisations and following recent negative events within the UK, the focus on safety has rightly increased. For over twenty years, clinical audit has been the tool most frequently used to measure safety-related aspects of healthcare and when done so correctly, can lead to sustained improvements. This paper explains how clinical audit is used as a safety improvement tool in an English dental hospital and gives several examples of projects that have resulted in long-term improvements in secondary dental care.
authors.affiliation: Consultant in Restorative Dentistry, Associate Clinical Head of Division, University Dental Hospital of Manchester, Higher Cambridge Street, Manchester, M15 6FH.
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Ashley
authors.affiliation: Consultant in Oral Medicine, Clinical Head of Division, University Dental Hospital of Manchester, Higher Cambridge Street, Manchester, M15 6FH.
authors.forename: M N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Pemberton
authors.affiliation: Consultant in Oral Surgery, University Dental Hospital of Manchester, Higher Cambridge Street, Manchester, M15 6FH.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saksena
authors.affiliation: Clinical Effectiveness Manager, University Dental Hospital of Manchester, Higher Cambridge Street, Manchester, M15 6FH.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shaw
authors.affiliation: Divisional Director, University Dental Hospital of Manchester, Higher Cambridge Street, Manchester, M15 6FH.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dickson
mesh_terms: D019230:Dental Audit; D003752:Dental Health Services / Q000592:standards*; D006782:Hospitals, Special; D006801:Humans; D061214:Patient Safety; D006113:United Kingdom