Rethinking Clinical Audit

Clinical audit can be a powerful tool for change, but is often perceived as externally-imposed time-wasting. Focusing on applications of clinical audit in psychoanalytic psychotherapy NHS services, the authors examine why audit is resented, how it can be 'reconstructed' as a useful tool for clinicals, and provide real-life examples of good practice. More than a simple 'how-to', this book provides new rnderstanding of a persistent problem in health-care organisations and will be of interest to all mental health staff, trainees and service managers.

Rachael Davenhill is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist in psychotherapy at the Tavistock Clinic, London, and former Chair of the Audit Committee,Tavistock andPortmanNHS Trust. Matthew Patrick is a Consultant Psychotherapist at the Tavistock Clinic and lecturer in developmental psychopathology at University College London. He was formerly lead Audit Clinician for the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust. Both are also psychoanalysts in private practice.

1 Psychotherapy services, healthcare policy and clinical audit 2 The audit fixation: some issues for psychotherapy 3 Clinical audit and conflict 4 Kaizen and the process of audit within an NHS psychotherapy unit 5 The Manchester experience: audit and psychotherapy services in north-west England 6 Audit and survival: specialist inpatient psychotherapy in the National Health Service 7 Audit and research 8 Evaluating the outcome of a community-based psychoanalytic psychotherapy service for young people: one-year repeated follow-up 9 Clinical practice guidelines for the psychotherapies