Clinicalauditreportaug 2013
Clinicalauditreportaug 2013
Clinicalauditreportaug 2013
Layout of report
The audit report should follow a standard audit report template. Examples
Introduction
Explain the reasoning why the audit was undertaken.
Outline when the audit undertaken and how many people/items were surveyed.
Outline the aims and objectives of the audit.
Results
There should be no commentary in this section.
Anonymity should be heeded i.e. don’t refer to specific people.
Where possible use visual aids such as tables or charts. All tables and figures
should have a title and be understood without reference to the text.
Be consistent with data presentation, e.g. decimal places, percentages, format.
Discussion
This section should not contain any new data.
It should draw on the results and make careful interpretation of the findings.
Compare the results to other audits.
Discuss the strengths and weakness of the audit, are there any discrepancies?
Discuss the meaning of the findings and possible implications for health care
professionals.
Acknowledgements
All those who helped should be mentioned
References
Should be numbered or in alphabetical order.
Appendices
It may be appropriate to include a copy of the data collection form
Title of Audit:
For office use: audit number
Date of report:
Standard:
Methodology:
State
Chosen
population
How sample
selected
Retrospective or
prospective
Sample size
Describe tool
used
Results:
Recommendation:
(bullet point action
plan-with review
date and initials of
person in charge of
implementation)
A report must be written up for each Clinical Audit done. This is the official record of what has been done, which can be returned to in future
years.
Title
This should be the same as the title on the proforma.
Standards
Clinical audit must measure against standards, guidelines or benchmarks of some sort, these should be identified and where they come from
(the source and strength of evidence). State if the intention was to set standards at the end of the project and if so, which aspects of care
those standards pertain to.
Methodology
State the chosen population for this study (for example, "patients referred to the one-stop breast clinic for suspected cancer") and then to say
how the sample was selected the sample for the audit, specifying whether a retrospective or prospective approach was used (for example, for a
prospective audit, "the first 100 patients referred to the clinic starting from 1/10/04", or for a retrospective audit, "all patients seen at the
outpatient clinic during July "). Describe how these patients were identified, the sample size, the time period, and clarify how this was
calculated or agreed upon.
The data collection method should also be stated, for example, "Data was collected from patients' case notes using a data collection sheet or a
query was run in ICT. List who was responsible for data collection, when this was done, and mention briefly the method of data input (if
appropriate) and analysis.
Results
The number of subjects (for example, patients) included in the audit is the initial 'n' number. If data is incomplete, explain why, for example, it
might not be possible to find every set of patient notes.
How data is analysed depends upon the question/s to be answered. Ensure to include the number and percentage of cases meeting each
criteria of the standard, making it clear what number is been taken a percentage of as the 'n' number may change at different points of the
report, for example, 45/50 (90%) for criterion A and 81/90 (90%) for criterion B.
Conclusions
List the key points that flow from the audit results - use bullet points and avoid long paragraphs. Ensure conclusions are supported by the data,
or if the data points to no firm conclusions, say so - don't make claims that are not supported by the evidence. Make objective, factual
statements, not subjective ones, i.e. don't say "it is obvious that... “or "clearly, what is happening is ... "
A quality improvement plan (action plan) should be agreed saying what changes will be implemented, who will be responsible for carrying them
out and when this will be done. If appropriate (i.e. changes are to be made), set a date for a re-audit to complete the audit cycle.