Clinical Audit

Annual Audit Prize

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1 audit per year (minimum)

In terms of clinical audit the following is a simple guide and the ICGP shall provide more specific guidance and tools for clinical audit in general practice. Audit activities should be focused on the practice of the practitioner and not on the processes. Examples of types of activities can include:

Clinical Audit Toolkit

2 guides on clinical audit are available to download below:

  1. ICGP Audit Toolkit
  2. ICGP Short Guide to Audit

Sample Audits

Clinical Audit Video Presentation

This presentation was delivered at the ICGP Winter Meeting in November 2011. The aim of the presentation is to give you an overview of audit and to provide you with some practical advice for the purpose of your professional competence audit requirements.

Click here for the presentation in video format.

Click here for the presentation in PDF format.

Useful Links

GPIT Resources: Using Practice Software to Carry Out an Audit

One of the key requirements for GPs in order to maintain professional competence with the Medical Council is the completion of a practice audit. Practice management software can assist greatly in this regard especially if the GP has been coding diseases correctly. Even if this has not been done, it is still possible to use the software to identify suitable patients in other ways. Below are instructions for GPs on how to identify patients for an audit project using the main software packages provided by users of these systems:

IPCRN Tools for Monitoring Chronic Disease Risk Factors

The ICGP in conjunction with the HSE has developed an audit tool which will assist practices in monitoring the physical health of their practice's active adult patients. This is in relation to the ICGP/HSE project: Making Every Consultation Count (MECC)

MECC audit - This tool provides information on the physical health of all active patients aged 18 or over. Specifically, you will receive information about smoking, BMI, alcohol use and physical activity, as well as other important chronic disease risk factors. This data comes from several places in your system, including the new physical health monitoring tab. The audit will provide a comparison between active adult patients in your practice and active adult patients nationally. This national data consists of aggregated data from all other practices who have used the audit tool. After you introduce any identified quality improvement activities, and run this tool again to see the improvements in your practice, you can use this for your professional competence audit requirements.

The ICGP in conjunction with the HSE has also developed several tools which assist practices to undertake an audit on the Physical Health of patients with Enduring Mental Illness (PHEMI). Enduring mental illnesses (EMIs) here are defined as major depressive disorder, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The tools are as follows:

PHEMI finder - The finder gives you a list of active patients aged 18 or over who might have an enduring mental illness (EMI) but have not been coded as such. Patients on this list have been included based on several criteria such as medications-prescribed and free-note entries. A comprehensive list of the inclusion criteria can be seen when you use the finder. The list of patients is in order of most likely to be a patient with an EMI at the top to least likely to be a patient with an EMI at the bottom. You can decide for each patient whether to add them to the PHEMI register and code them appropriately.

PHEMI register - The register will provide you with a list of active patients aged 18 or over who have been coded with an EMI.

PHEMI audit - An audit tool has also been created which provides you with details about the physical health of active patients who are aged 18 or over and coded with an EMI. Information about their smoking status, BMI, alcohol, physical activity and other important chronic disease risk factors are included in the audit. This data comes from several places in your system, including the new physical health monitoring tab. The audit will provide a comparison between EMI patients in your practice and EMI patients nationally. This national data consists of aggregated data from all other practices who have used the audit tool. After you introduce any identified quality improvement activities, and run this tool again to see the improvements in your practice, you can use this for your professional competence audit requirements.

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