Success factors: resources, leadership and management support

Conducting even a small clinical audit and carrying out a plan of improvement needs resources and the commitment of all participants (management, clinical teams and audit department) to complete the process. Audits that are restricted to a few patients in a single clinical unit and using minimal resources may be valuable in improving practice. Large, multi centre studies require substantial planning and resources. Such large studies may be needed to identify, on a multi centre or national scale, current practices or areas needing improvement.