title: Confronting the quality paradox: towards new characterisations of 'quality' in contemporary healthcare.
abstract: This editorial introduces the special Biomed Central cross-journal collection The Many Meanings of 'Quality' in Healthcare: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, setting out the context for the development of the collection, and presenting brief summaries of all the included papers in three broad themes 1) the practices of assuring quality in healthcare 2) giving 'space to the story' 3) addressing moral complexity in the clinic, the classroom and the academy. The editorial concludes with reflections on some of the key messages that emerge from the papers which are relevant to policymakers and practitioners who seek to improve the quality of healthcare.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Primary Care and Public Health, Queen Mary, University of London, London, UK. d.swinglehurst@qmul.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Swinglehurst
authors.affiliation: School of Politics, International Studies & Philosophy, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK. n.emmerich@qub.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Nathan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Emmerich
authors.affiliation: Policy Directorate, The King's Fund, London, UK. j.maybin@kingsfund.org.uk.
authors.forename: Jo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Maybin
authors.affiliation: Department of Primary Care & Population Health, Institute of Epidemiology & Health, University College London, London, UK. sophie.park@ucl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Clinical and Communication Skills Unit, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. saq23@medschl.cam.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Sally
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Quilligan
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D058996:Quality Improvement; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care