The Quest for Quality in the NHS

Book excerpt: PUBLISHED IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE NUFFIELD TRUST Quality is an issue of central importance in the NHS and yet, despite a considerable number of initiatives, programmes and organisation that have focussed on improving quality in the NHS over recent years, there's no comprehensive, reliable balance and rigorous account of the strengths and weaknesses in healthcare delivery. This book provides an authoritative and accessible account of the state of quality in the NHS. Unless information on quality is properly gathered, organised, analysed and used, the health service will continue to lack a foundation on which sustained and systemic improvement can be based. The Quest for Quality in the NHS: a chartbook on quality of care in the UK is a comprehensive, rigorous and robust account of healthcare quality and will inform the public, managers, researchers and policymakers about gaps between what is possible, and what is delivered by the healthcare system.