Monitoring quality in the British health service ‐ a case study and a theoretical critique Available to Purchase

Details the results of a monitoring exercise introduced in one local hospital to address the amount of time that patients spent waiting when attending outpatient departments in hospitals. Discusses whether a purely quantitative approach to quality can deliver the desired improvements. Argues that quality measures should incorporate more qualitative dimensions, including the tapping of patient perceptions of their experiences, before a claim can be made that reducing waiting times has improved overall quality. Also argues that the frequent use of the term customer in the quality literature receives critical attention when it is applied in the NHS. The fact that the term conflates the roles of consumer and purchaser makes analysis potentially difficult. Suggests that regarding patients as customers (in the manner of some traditional approaches to quality) is not a useful aid to analysis.