The audit so far and a call to arms

Audit, the act of examining, measuring and comparing, is the ultimate in information finding. It is essential to understand the current situation and to know whether improvement is being made over time.

When we first set out to tackle service variance in MS, we heard about the necessity of audit and quality improvement tools in helping us to advance the quality of care and drive policy changes.

Time and time again, the need to understand our current position more clearly in order to make informed decisions about where, why and how to move forward was highlighted. And so one of the five workstreams of the ‘Raising the Bar’ programme is ‘Audit’.

In the room at the ‘Raising the Bar conference’, when asked if delegates would agree to take part in an initial and quick audit on behalf of their centre, with a view to a fuller audit later in the programme’s year, there was a unanimously positive response.

Attendees for the Audit workstream at ‘Raising the Bar’ unanimously agreed to undertake a service audit.

Steps to complete this quick audit were talked through in the meeting itself (figure 1). A number of delegates completed the audit there and then in the room using their smartphone. It really is that simple.

So far, we have had 29 trusts source and provide their Blueteq data – and if you want to do this and are not sure how to, please get in touch. We have a handy cribsheet ready and waiting for you.

The MS service audit questionnaire can be completed in around 5 minutes for most, and for those with more complex service set-ups, someone from the audit workstream is able to go through it with you and add notes as necessary. Again, please let us know if this is you.

To date, 14 services have completed the questionnaire but we need at least 6 more to launch the initial pilot audit – so please follow the link and use your next five minutes to tackle variance in MS!

→ Participate in our audit of MS services