Clinical Audits are a contractual requirement for clinicians with performer numbers, working in the NHS. The requirement is for 5 hours of Audit to be undertaken annually. The audits were submitted to the Local Assessment Panel (LAP) who checked that they were of sufficient quality to be recognised for the required 5 hours. The South West LAP team developed a number of “cookbook” audits for practitioners to use as templates.
When PCTs were abolished the LAPs ceased to exist. NHS England did not feel it necessary to support these clinical audits. Therefore, the Area Teams (AT) show no interest in audit, despite it still be in the contract. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) are relied upon to check this when they carry out inspections.
Devon LDC provides a number of clinical audits, to help support you in your own practice. They are freely available to download, courtesy of Devon LDC.