Improving monitoring for metabolic syndrome using audit

Audit has been defined as "a quality improvement process that seeks to improve patient care and outcome, through systematic review of care and comparison with explicit criteria, followed by the implementation of change". As of May 2011, under the Medical Practitioners Act 2007, doctors are legally obliged to join in professional competence schemes, following requirements set by the Medical Council. These include the obligation for doctors to conduct one clinical audit per year. In Ireland and elsewhere, audit provides an opportunity for services to create an "environment in which clinical care will flourish".