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Clinical practice guidelines are increasingly being recognised as integral to the clinical effectiveness agenda. According to the recent Scottish White Paper, Scotland “leads the way in clinical effectiveness”. The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN), established in 1993, has produced over 20 clinical practice guidelines, and plans to produce at least as many more, while reviewing existing guidelines at a minimum of every two years. This represents a substantial investment of NHS resources. This paper investigates whether this investment is being recouped in Scottish NHS acute trusts via the implementation of SIGN guidelines, and whether their implementation is being audited properly. It is argued that without clinical audit, guideline implementation is unlikely to succeed. This has important ramifications for the implementation of clinical governance.

Outlines the history of auditing in China and the auditing standards and guidelines issued in 1997 to improve consistency in the audit of government departments and state‐run enterprises under the responsibility of the National Audit Office (NAO). Explains that they focus on auditing processes rather than more subjective areas but are used by the NAO’s audit bureaux and by private accounting firms, including those with international connections. Compares them with international auditing guidelines, which cover subjective issues but are aimed at commercial organizations. Recognizes some concern in China over the money spent on the NAO and calls for public education on the nature and purpose of audit, for parameters to be set to narrow the scope of auditors subjective judgements and for harmonization with international standards.

As competition in the global economy grows, management systems are becoming increasingly complex and diverse. Management system audits, applied for the examination of system effectiveness and compliance with planned arrangements, seem to be following the same path. This paper addresses the fundamental models, concepts, principles and practices of management system auditing, with the objective of improving the consistency and effectiveness of audits across quality, environmental, financial, safety, maintenance and other auditing disciplines. The concept of a generic audit is introduced on the basis of the systems approach. Discipline‐specific audit definitions are analyzed, and a generic audit definition is depicted. Quality, environmental and accounting audit principles are compared, and a set of basic features of a generic audit is illustrated and discussed. Common audit practices are subsequently illustrated, followed by an outline of the structure and content of a generic audit guideline, together with the proposed two‐prong approach to the development of the generic audit.

The purpose of this paper is to show that third-party quality audits (TPQAs) facilitate performance improvement and give confidence to organisations concerning the process quality of services and products. However, because of inconsistencies and unethical practices often observed in the industry, organisations question the significance of TPQA. A perception exists that its initial purpose as an impartial tool ensuring quality of deliverables is no longer upheld. Hence, the need to determine and explain the influence of the ISO 19011 standard interpretation on the application of the audit guidelines in performing TPQA, to promote consistency in the audit process.

The study employed document analysis of the ISO 19011 standard, followed by semi-structured interviews with certification managers (CBs) to gain insight related to their interpretation and application of the ISO 19011 guidelines.

The CBs interpret the ISO 19011 guidelines differently; hence, their application of the standard to compile their audit documents differ. Adherence to the principles of auditing particularly, integrity and independence were found as the core of the audit process while their disregard reflects failure of the real intent of auditing. The inconsistencies in the audit procedures and documents developed for auditors are ascribed to some CBs’ personal interpretations.

The study explores how the different interpretations of the ISO 19011 standard prevail and are perceived by the CBs and auditors. The findings aim to support standardisation and reduce the variations across and amongst the different CBs and auditors.

In A Conceptual Framework for Auditing (Pratt & Van Peursem, 1993) it was argued that audit risk, materiality and judgement are fundamental auditing concepts which should form a part of any conceptual framework. However, it was identified that the New Zealand Society of Accountants treats these issues as guidelines only; they are not treated as fundamental issues. This paper compares the different positions in respect of audit risk, materiality and judgement that have been adopted by the various professional bodies responsible for auditing standards in English speaking Pacific Rim countries and the United Kingdom. Countries included in the study are: New Zealand, Australia, United States of America, Canada, United Kingdom, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia. It is concluded that the tendency in all the standards has been to under‐emphasise these three conceptual issues, despite auditing standards and guideline frameworks that profess interest in broad theoretical issues. As a result, the auditing standards have tended to focus upon procedural ‘how to’ questions rather than more complex questions of ‘why’, or ‘how much’. It is recommended mat the auditing standard setters in all the countries included in this analysis should consider the adoption of a conceptual framework of auditing to better inform the process of standard setting, and to assist the achievement of internal consistency within the standards and guidelines.

The NICE Guidelines for Schizophrenia are designed to give guidance on the best practice in treatment and management of schizophrenia. These guidelines have 13 standards which services can use for the purpose of audit. As schizophrenia is our service's most common diagnosis, an audit against the guidelines was undertaken. The results indicated that we met three of the standards. Recommendations have been implemented to improve practice on standards that were not met, and this has led to some creative practice development. Despite the labour‐intensive nature of the audit, the results gave a clear indication of areas where there was a need for improvement and will act as a good baseline for re‐audit.

There are many definitions of materiality and such differences in definition show that there is great concern about the applicability of materiality in the auditing profession. Various materiality guidelines have been recommended by both academic researchers and accounting bodies, but the Auditing Practices Board in the UK has yet to recommend a guideline of its own. Looks at the recommendations put forward by those researchers and accounting bodies and the implications and possible pros and cons of having structured guidelines by the auditing profession in the UK. Concludes with a recommended materiality guideline which the Auditing Practices Board should seriously consider and the possibility of applying computer‐based decision aids as a tool to improve efficiency and effectiveness of decision making by the auditors.

Worldwide, many carbon audit guidelines have been developed, but comparative reviews of these guidelines and empirical findings of carbon emissions from hotels remain limited. The aim of the study reported here was to bridge these knowledge gaps.

A comparative review of the legislations and guidelines for carbon audits in Australia, the UK and Hong Kong was made. An empirical audit, which entailed a series of site visits and interviews for collecting the record data of a typical hotel in Hong Kong, was conducted to identify the sources and amounts of carbon emissions from the hotel.

Conducting carbon audits for buildings in Hong Kong is entirely voluntary. Reporting of certain scopes of carbon emissions is at the sole discretion of the reporting party. Purchased electricity for the hotel is the dominant source of carbon emissions.

Audits in future may follow the reported audit process to identify carbon emissions from other hotels to enlarge the pool of empirical findings, which is a prerequisite to developing carbon emission benchmarks and carbon footprint analyses.

The suggestions made for overcoming the obstacles found from the audit are crucial for performing smoother and more complete audits in future.

The review findings and the practical problems identified are useful information for the stakeholders of carbon audits, including policy makers and facilities management practitioners.

This article aims to assess the standard local recommended management of women with severe pre‐eclampsia and eclampsia in relation to recommendations in a national clinical guideline using a criterion‐based survey.

A total of 227 maternity units in the UK were asked to provide a copy of their guideline for the management of severe pre‐eclampsia and eclampsia. Responses were obtained from 107 units (47.1 per cent), 37 units were using regional guidelines and 72 guidelines were available for assessment. A total of ten audit criteria were agreed by committee, based on national recommendations. Guidelines were then audited to assess concurrence with these criteria.

The standard of guidelines was highly variable with only four guidelines (4.5 per cent) satisfying all ten key guideline points. The majority of guidelines had clear criteria for inclusion (87.5 per cent) but in almost a quarter of all guidelines no mention was made of informing consultant staff once these criteria were met.

The study shows that the standard of local guidelines for management of these potentially fatal conditions is highly variable. Confidential inquiry has repeatedly recommended the use of regional guidelines. Perhaps it is time for the development of a national guideline representing consensus agreement of an evidence‐based approach.

In the UK eclampsia and pre‐eclampsia continue to be a leading cause of maternal mortality and morbidity. This paper provides a valuable insight into the standard of guidelines used in the management of these conditions.

This paper examines the relevance of compliance audit on companies’ compliance with disclosure guidelines of financial statements with special reference to the case of companies registered in the Muscat Securities Market (MSM), Oman.

This paper adopts a direct measure of compliance prescribed and published in the annual report of Capital Market Authority (CMA) and its executive regulation from period 2011 to 2019.

The finding shows that there is a positive association with audit on companies’ compliance with disclosure guidelines of financial statements that enrich companies to ensures adherence to regulatory guidelines of Oman.

The key limitation of the study is that it depends on a transparency indicator from a secondary source. Further, this might encourage companies to appoint qualified compliance officer which will be a value addition for best practice of corporate governance (CG) of the organizations.

The evidence recommends that audit on companies’ compliance with disclosure guidelines of financial statements is a significant factor that helps the company to enhance its financial performance and provides assurance to the government that the company follows applicable rules and regulations. It also recommends that the appointment of designated compliance officer assures adherence to companies’ regulatory guidelines of Oman. Besides, conducting research in audit on companies’ compliance with disclosure guidelines of financial statements brings novelty in the literature in emerging countries. As per best knowledge of the researchers, there has been no empirical study (within the literature) observed, which inspires much encouragement to do this study.