Q. What constitutes a clinical audit?

A. Audit is a quality improvement process that follows a systematic review and evaluation of activities against research-based standards. An audit is a continuous process of aiming to improve patient care and practice excellence.

The audit requirements for the PCS are as follows:

• Choose an audit topic
• Agree and review standards
• Collect data
• Compare data with standards
• Implement changes
• Re-audit: close the loop and continue the cycle as appropriate

Write and retain a copy of the audit report for each clinical audit you take part in. This is the official record of what was done and as such can be revisited for ongoing review. The re-audit forms an essential part of the audit. After change has been implemented, the practice audit cycle is completed by repeating the process to examine whether the implemented changes were effective or not. A comprehensive toolkit and template examples of a clinical audit are available here to assist you in constructing and conducting your audit.