Quality audit experience for excellence in healthcare

Abstract

Purpose

To make an improvement on a larger scale and continuing along the path of quality auditing, this paper aims to identify the steps taken towards excellence for patient care in Sultan Qaboos University Hospital (SQUH).

Design/methodology/approach

SQUH, in the Gulf country Sultanate of Oman, has enthusiastically entered the challenge of improving quality in healthcare while traveling towards healthcare excellence. It began with the successful achievement of ISO 9001:2000 certification (May 2005) and re‐certification (May 2008) and is now adopting accreditation standards.

Findings

Being a prominent 500‐bed teaching research hospital in the country offering general and distinguished specialized clinical services while adhering to continuing professional development, the source of motivation derives from the hospital's vision and mission, thus bringing the primary focus of auditing to a peak. By performing internal quality audit, proper monitoring of conformity by measuring the effectiveness to the stated intention in a cycle of continuous quality improvement (CQI) is ensured.

Research limitations/implications

Traditionally, health prevention and cure have always been the aim for the healthcare industry. Consequently it is the one industry that faces continuous pressures to improve quality and the one with the fastest‐growing interest in quality.

Originality/value

The paper puts forward a model that incorporates the fundamentals of quality improvement through quality auditing step by step in a systematic manner and shows measurable results.

Citation

Alhatmi, Y.S. (2010), "Quality audit experience for excellence in healthcare", Clinical Governance: An International Journal, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 113-127. https://doi.org/10.1108/14777271011036364