Quality management for a health education unit

Specialty health education units are unique in the health care system. Quality Assurance (QA) protocols developed for general ward and hospital department use are not always able to accommodate the unique organizational and functional elements found in such units. In addition, QA measures are all too infrequently applied in the area of health education. The Diabetes Centre at the Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick is staffed by a multi-disciplinary team which provides in excess of 800 clinical and/or educational occasions of service per month. This paper describes the development and implementation of a Quality Management Plan, specific to the unit's needs, that was introduced in stages over a number of years.