Quality assuring a therapy service

Quality assurance, one of the main themes in The New: NHS Modern, Dependable and detailed later in A First Class Service: Quality in the New NHS, is explored in this article. The main thrust of both White Papers, notably clinical governance, is applied to a team of physiotherapists and occupational therapists who provide services to a general medical directorate in a large teaching hospital. A SWOT analysis reveals characteristics of the Donabedian and Maxwell models of quality assurance/assessment in therapy services. Consequently, a combined matrix of the two models described by Maxwell is used to develop a therapy quality assurance strategy.