This guide focuses on one important element of the quality agenda: quality improvement.

Improving quality is about making healthcare safe, effective, patient-centred, timely, efficient and equitable. In the history of the NHS, there has never been such a focus on improving the quality of health services. This guide looks in particular at what are known as organisational or industrial approaches to quality improvement. These aim to bring about a measurable improvement by applying specific methods within a healthcare setting. This is not a ‘how to’ guide. Instead, it offers a clear explanation of some common approaches used to improve quality, including where they have come from, their underlying principles and their efficacy and applicability within the healthcare arena.