A computerised quality assurance system (QAS) on a general psychiatric ward: Towards efficient clinical audit

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Abstract
Audit of mental heath services may have intrinsic difficulties to account for its relatively slow rate of progress since publication of the Government's white paper, “Working for Patients”. A problem oriented, computerised quality assurance system (QAS) has been developed for use by mental health workers. QAS is here described, and its performance on a general psychiatric unit evaluated. Use of QAS in the first 8 months after its introduction to Ward One, Maudsley Hospital, improved communication between staff of different disciplines, as well as between patient and therapist. QAS could also be used to assess overall ward performance, eg: in terms of mean length of admission, or mean improvement in symptom severity. Optimal use of QAS requires staff to learn to formulate quantifiable problems and goals, and to find sustainable ways of incorporating QAS in the routine clinical work of the ward.

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