Quality improvement and measurement: what non-executive directors need to know

An overview of quality improvement and measurement for non-executive directors of health boards.


Appendix 2e - Variation

It is important to understand that a certain amount of variation is normal. Some variation is intended, for example, care is designed for specific groups of patients with different needs. Unintended variation in healthcare is due to differences in healthcare processes that are not connected with patients' different needs. This can result in waste and harm, and commonly forms the focus for an improvement.

Statistical Process Control ( SPC) is a way of using statistical methods and visual display of data to allow us to understand the variation in a process. More information on this can be found at: https://improvement.nhs.uk/resources/statistical-process-control-spc/

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