Quality approach to records and information management in the South Western Region.

A few months before the introduction of "Working for Patients" the South Western Regional Health Authority published a document called 'Better Patient Care' which outlined the need to focus the plethora of unco-ordinated national directives on such matters as medical audit, internal markets and resource management into a coherent practical approach to the provision of patient care in the Region. The advent of the White Paper was therefore not such a cultural shock to us. 'Better Patient Care' recognised that a major requirement for practical success was good information which should provide timely, concise, accurate and well presented information about the quality and utilisation of resources. It also acknowledged that a major consideration in defining information requirements was that they should be extracted from the data collected for operational needs and from operational systems. The need for relevant training for all staff engaged in the records and information fields was also emphasised.