Audit Form Research Articles

Whose ethics? The international regulation of labour practices on South African export fruit farms

This paper concerns private labour regulation services in the form of ethical audits. By describing the development and nature of ethical audits in the South African fruit export industry, it juxtaposes the complex relations between farm workers and farmers, shaped by a problematic history and volatile present, against a standardised code of ethics. The paper draws on my own experiences working as an auditor since 2011 in order to illustrate the difficulties of realising workers’ rights through ethically sound labour practices (in the near absence of the state) and the unintended implications of different understandings of the notion of a “farm worker” as the term oscillates between global supply chains and the workplace. The paper also explores the role of auditing and measurement in connecting local labour arrangements to global fair labour principles. It suggests that the legitimacy ascribed to ethical audits drives the moral impetus for putting ethically sanctioned fruit on international shelves, but fails to address workers’ rights in a meaningful manner.

A New Tool for Quality: The Internal Audit.

As health care systems aspire to improve the quality and value for the consumers they serve, quality outcomes must be at the forefront of this value equation. As organizations implement evidence-based practices, electronic records to standardize processes, and quality improvement initiatives, many tactics are deployed to accelerate improvement and care outcomes. This article describes how one organization utilized a formal clinical audit process to identify gaps and/or barriers that may be contributing to underperforming measures and outcomes. This partnership between quality and audit can be a powerful tool and produce insights that can be scaled across a large health care system.

Medical research and audit skills training for undergraduates: an international analysis and student-focused needs assessment

IntroductionInterpreting, performing and applying research is a key part of evidence-based medical practice, however, incorporating these within curricula is challenging. This study aimed to explore current provision of research skills...

A Review on Heart Disease Detection Techniques

The paper exhibits a formal audit on early detection of heart disease which are the major cause of death. Computational science has potential to detect disease in prior stages automatically. With this review paper we describe machine learning for disease detection. Machine learning is a method of data analysis that automates analytical model building.Various techniques develop to predict cardiac disease based on cases through MRI was developed. Automated classification using machine learning. Feature extraction method using Cell Profiler and GLCM. Cell Profiler a public domain software, freely available is flourished by the Broad Institute's Imaging Platform and Glcm is a statistical method of examining texture .Various techniques to detect cardio vascular diseases.

Need for the Integrated Nutrition Pathway for Acute Care (INPAC): gaps in current nutrition care in five Canadian hospitals

BackgroundMalnutrition is common in hospitalized patients and is associated with increased mortality, length of stay, and risk of re-admission. The consensus based Integrated Nutrition Pathway for Acute Care (INPAC) was developed and validated to enhance patients’ nutrition care and improve clinical outcomes. As part of the More-2-Eat project (M2E), five hospitals implemented INPAC activities (e.g. screening) in a single medical unit. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the care gaps with respect to INPAC activities on these five units prior to implementation. Results were used as part of a needs assessment on each unit, demonstrating where nutrition care could be improved and tailoring of implementation was required.MethodsCross-sectional data was collected by site research associates (RAs) using a standardized audit form once per week for 4 weeks. The audit contents were based on the INPAC algorithm. All medical charts of patients on the study unit on the day of the audit were reviewed to track routine nutrition care activities (e.g. screening). Data was descriptively displayed with REDCap™ and analyzed using R Studio software.ResultsLess than half of patients (249/700, 36%) were screened for malnutrition at admission. Of those screened, 36% (89/246) were at risk for malnutrition yet 36% (32/89) of these patients did not receive a dietitian assessment. Also, 21% (33/157) of patients who were not screened at risk were assessed. At least one barrier to food intake was noted in 85% of patient medical charts, with pain, constipation, nausea or vomiting being the most common. Many of these barriers were addressed through INPAC standard nutrition care strategies that removed the barrier (e.g. 41% were provided medication for nausea). Advanced nutrition care strategies to improve intake were less frequently recorded (39% of patients).ConclusionThese results highlight the current state of nutrition care and areas for improvement regarding INPAC activities, including nutrition screening, assessment, and standard and advanced nutrition care strategies to promote food intake. The results also provided baseline data to support buy-in for INPAC implementation in each M2E study unit.Trial registrationRetrospectively registered ClinTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02800304, June 7, 2016.

Evaluasi Penerapan Audit Mutu Internal Pada STAIN Curup

This study at evaluating the implementation of internal quality audit at STAIN Curup. The data for this study are collected through interview and documentation. Stake or countenance evaluation model is used in this study. Thus, the data analysis involves some following step as: data editing, data coding, tabulating the data, interpreting the data, and drawing conclusion. The result of this study indicates that (1) The Planning internal quality audit is relevant with, attempting to fulfill costumer’s demand, to is relevan with audi vision, audit schedule, the formulation of audit purpose, and the audit form, (2) the implementation of audit is reasonably inappropriate with the purpose and the scope of the audit, and (3) the follow up audit is relevant with the established evaluation standard. As the final thought, this study recommends STAIN Curup conduct well planned and well program internal quality audit continuously so that it can serve as self-reflection for the insitution.
 Keywords : Evaluation, Internal Quality Audit.

How to Prepare for an Infection Control Audit

Consistent adherence to infection control principles is the means by which healthcare personnel can protect themselves and their patients. The infection control audit is an ideal vehicle to assess consistency of approach to infection prevention, and when utilised effectively is a useful key component of infection control programmes. This article will outline the key processes involved in undertaking an infection control audit in order to assist practices wishing to develop their own standardised audit form to help ensure consistent and thorough application of key infection control principles.

Ukrainian Audit in the Context of Statistics

Statistical data on the situation and trends in the Ukrainian audit market are studied. The tendency of quantitative indicators of the audit market, including the number of auditors, the number of audit forms and private physical persons rendering audit services from 2011 to 2016 is shown. The data give evidence of the gradually declining audit community. The reasons behind this tendency are analyzed, and the deteriorating public attitude to this profession is underlined. The falling number of expected and reported inspections is observed. Data on the number of audit customers’ complaints on audit firms are given by regulatory body and audit entities with the dominating number of complaints. The need to create the database of official statistics on the audit market in Ukraine is emphasized, which key component has to be the set of indicators as the basis for the system of statistical monitoring of the audit market in Ukraine.

FUNGSI PENGAWASAN INSPEKTORAT TERHADAP PERANGKAT DAERAH (PD) PEMERINTAH KOTA MANADO

The purpose of this study is to analyze the function of supervision of the Manado City Inspectorate Office to the regional apparatus. The research method used is descriptive qualitative. This research is located in Manado City that is to Inspection Office of Manado City. The data collected in the form of reports on the results of supervisory activities are audit report, evaluation report, monitoring report and report result of review for 3 (three) years from 2013 until 2015 in the authorities and agencies in Manado City. In this study was used comparative data analysis. There are three main findings of this research are: firstly, from the analisis result of supervision function in the form of audit, evaluation, monitoring and review that have conducted by Inspectorate of Manado City toward Manado City Local Government Offices administration, there is a significant decrease of findings from all examination object or auditee. Secondly, from the decreasing number of findings indicates that the supervisory function performed by the Manado City Inspectorate on the Manado City Local Government implementation is done with good and optimal performance. Third, the influence of the Inspectorate's supervisory function on the performance of the regional apparatus of Manado City Government indicates that the Manado City Inspectorate has succeeded in performing its supervisory function as a quality assurance or guarantor of quality toward the performance of official of Local Governments in Manado City.

Factors Influencing Voluntary Disclosure in the Annual Reports of Portuguese Foundations

The aim of this paper is to examine the influence of Portuguese Foundation’s characteristics on their annual report disclosure practices. Data were collected from 142 Foundations in Portugal, which represents 50.9% of the Portuguese foundational sector. Supported by a Structural Equation Model (SEM), this study evaluates cause–effect relationship between Voluntary Disclosure, Board Structure, Organizations’ Characteristics and the existence of Auditing. Findings reveal that Organizations’ Characteristics influence the forms of Auditing, and on its turn, Auditing has a positive indirect impact on Voluntary Disclosure. Contrary to expectations, Board Structure does not affect Voluntary Disclosure. This paper fills a void in the literature by examining the impact of Foundations’ characteristics on their voluntary disclosure of financial and non-financial information.

Implementation and functioning of HACCP principles in certified and non-certified food businesses

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of the functioning of HACCP principles in certified and non-certified food businesses.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected by audits made in 40 food businesses of various food industry sectors. All food businesses were located in Poland where the HACCP system is obligatory. Half of the evaluated businesses implemented one or more private voluntary certified standards. The audit form contained 134 detailed questions covering 12 steps and seven principles of HACCP implementation and functioning. The obtained results were analyzed using a t-test, Spearman’s test, and cluster analysis.FindingsThe overall assessment of the HACCP principles in certified food businesses was higher than in non-certified ones. However, the functioning of HACCP principles in practice was assessed much lower than the system implementation in all business groups, despite certification and the type of food industry. In each of the food industry sectors both implementation and functioning of HACCP principles were evaluated higher in certified than in non-certified food businesses. Further research is needed to explain why, despite certification, the functioning of the mandatory HACCP principles is often incomplete and what factors affect the correct operation, as well as if these are sufficient to ensure food safety.Research limitations/implicationsThe main limitation of this research is a small sample of only 40 food businesses of various food industry sectors located in Poland. Due to the small sample, the research should be considered as the preliminary or scoping study. Although the method applied in the study allowed rapid evaluation of implementation and functioning of HACCP principles in food businesses, more work and analyses should be done for its reliability and validity.Practical implicationsThe obtained results gave a lot of practical information, e.g.: first, the overall assessment of the HACCP principles in the certified food businesses is higher than that in the non-certified ones; second, the functioning of the HACCP principles in practice is weaker than the system implementation despite certification; third, in some cases the passing certification schemes do not result in a company having excellent food safety practices; and fourth, the applied method allows rapid evaluation of implementation and functioning of HACCP principles. However, more work and analyses should be done for its reliability and validity.Social implicationsIt is believed that certification strengthens HACCP functioning in food businesses. However, the study has shown that functioning of HACCP principles in practice was assessed much lower than the system implementation in all business groups, despite certification and the type of food industry. This indicate that even in certified food businesses HACCP functioning is often incomplete, which may have an impact on food safety.Originality/valueThe paper presents additional and detailed data on the functioning of HACCP principles in certified and non-certified food business. Despite certification and the type of food industry sector, the functioning of HACCP principles in practice was assessed much lower than the system implementation in all business groups. The method applied in this study allowed rapid evaluation of implementation and functioning of HACCP principles in food businesses. However, more work and analyses should be done for its reliability and validity.

Associated Factors and Quality of Care Received among Maternal Deaths at a Regional Hospital in Ghana: Maternal Death Audit Review.

Maternal death audits are crucial to the reduction of maternal deaths. The aim of this study was to identity factors contributing to maternal deaths at Eastern Regional Hospital of Ghana. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used. Quantitative data on all the maternal deaths from January to December 2012 was extracted from completed audit forms and patients records using a standardized questionnaire. The data were analyzed in Epi-info. Qualitative data was collected through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with health staff to assess care received and factors leading to death. A total of 43 maternal deaths occurred out of which 37 (86%) were audited. Major causes of deaths were pregnancy induced hypertension (27%) and abortion (21%). Late referrals, poor supervision of junior staff, inadequate numbers of senior clinicians, lack of intensive care facility as well as unavailability and insufficient blood and blood products were the main contributory factors to the deaths. Tertiary health institutions should be adequately equipped, staffed, and funded to address these causes of maternal death.

Learning from mistakes: the use of significant event audit in veterinary practice

All veterinary surgeons should involve themselves in clinical governance. Clinical audit can be used to monitor the quality of care in a practice. Significant event audit is a qualitative form of clinical audit. It starts with a no-blame meeting of the practice team; this looks at what happened, why it happened, what has been learned and what needs to change. The results can be that training needs are identified, protocols are changed or drawn up considering the evidence base, and further audits may be planned. Significant event audit is about improving systems, not about blaming individuals.

Lithium monitoring patterns in the United Kingdom and Ireland: Can shared care agreements play a role in improving monitoring quality? A systematic review.

The appropriate monitoring of patients on lithium therapy has been the subject of extensive research in the form of clinical audits and surveys culminating in the development of specific guidelines to help clinicians provide optimal care for patients on lithium. The concept of 'shared care' has also gained attention in the literature with various types of shared care interventions being introduced as potential ways of improving communication between primary and secondary care. This article aims to (1) review the literature evaluating lithium monitoring practices in the United Kingdom and Ireland in the last 25 years and (2) determine whether locally agreed shared care agreements have the potential to improve monitoring quality. A literature search was conducted using the following databases: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Academic Search Premier, CINAHL and PsychInfo. A total of 12 studies were selected for review including 11 audits/prospective chart reviews and one qualitative study using semi-structured interviews. Overall, the quality of lithium monitoring seems to be improving throughout the years. However, none of the studies reviewed revealed complete adherence to monitoring guidelines. This may be due to a lack of effective communication between primary and secondary care. Several shared care interventions have been described in the literature but there is a paucity of studies concerned with the effects of local shared care arrangements designed for the specific purpose of lithium monitoring. Nonetheless, the extant data suggests that such agreements may help improve monitoring standards by allowing the responsibilities for managing the prescribing and monitoring of lithium to be more clearly defined and shared between primary and secondary care.

Knowledge and practices of bed sore prevention among staff nurses working in a selected hospital, Ludhiana, India

The majority of pressure ulcers are preventable. Nurses are able to constantly observe their client’s skin for breaks or impairment in skin integrity. Pressure ulcers not only cause suffering to the patients but also increases the workload on nurses. To identify the deficits in knowledge and practices of bed sore prevention among staff nurses’ working in general wards as well as special units and to prepare a Self Instructional Module (SIM) for improving the quality of nursing practices.An exploratory approach and participating observation approach was adopted. This study was conducted in Christian Medical College & Hospital, Ludhiana, Punjab, India among 60 staff nurses working in general wards and special units. Purposive sampling method was used for data collection with self prepared questionnaire. Multiple-choice questions were administered for study the knowledge level and an audit form with checklist for assessment of practice. The data was analyzed using in terms of descriptive and inferential statistics. SIM was developed based on the deficit found in the result. Staff nurses working in special units have significantly better knowledge (72.92%) than the nurses in general wards (62.50%). Similarly, the results showed special unit nurses practice significantly better (60.29%) than general ward nurses (46.68%). Overall knowledge of staff nurses was higher (67.71%) as compared to their practice (53.49%) regarding bed sore prevention. Although 40% of overall staff nurses achieved excellent level on knowledge, none of them crossed the excellent level on practice. It strongly suggested developing SIM for them. Self instructional Module was developed inferring the results that staff nurses’ working in special units have excellent (deficit only 2.08%) knowledge in different areas of knowledge compared to staff nurses working at general wards (deficit 12.50%) where as 100% of respondents did not achieve excellent level on practice regarding Bed Sore prevention. Hence all of them need improvement in practices of Bed Sore prevention to come up to excellence level.

Leaving Care and at Risk of Homelessness: The Lift Project

The paper reflects on developments in leaving care policy and practice in Western Australia (WA) and nationally from the mid-1990s. The review of national and some international literature suggests that current Australian policy and practice shows a ‘systems stuckness’ that requires a more potent form of annual auditing and reporting of jurisdictional leaving care outcomes. The review of mostly Australian publications focusing on leaving care and the risk of homelessness includes reflections on recent developments in leaving care services in England, which recognise and restore relationship-based services for care leavers. Finally, the history, vision and initial impact of the Living Independently for the First Time (LIFT) Project, a case study of learning by doing, is outlined. The authors and their colleagues from the Department for Child Protection and Family Support (Midland District), Swan Emergency Accommodation (now known as Indigo Junction) and the Housing Authority of WA have collaborated to design and develop the LIFT Project. This initially unfunded action-research strategy involves inter-agency policy and practice designed to prevent homelessness of vulnerable care leavers.

45: DEVELOPING AN AUDIT MODEL FOR EVALUATING EDUCATIONAL DEPARTMENTS

Background and aims:To achieve the goals and expectations of education, universities, colleges and educational departments, have to measure and improve the quality of education through specific mechanisms in the form...

A centrally generated primary care physician audit report does not improve colonoscopy uptake after a positive result on a fecal occult blood test in Ontario's ColonCancerCheck program.

Timely follow-up of fecal occult blood screening with colonoscopy is essential for achieving colorectal cancer mortality reduction. In the present study, we evaluated the effectiveness of centrally generated, physician-targeted audit and feedback to improve colonoscopy uptake after a positive fecal occult blood test (fobt) result within Ontario's population-wide ColonCancerCheck Program. This prospective cohort study used data sets from Ontario's ColonCancerCheck Program (2008-2011) that were linked to provincial administrative health databases. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate the effect of centralized, physician-targeted audit and feedback on colonoscopy uptake in an Ontario-wide fobt-positive cohort. A mailed physician audit and feedback report identifying individuals outstanding for colonoscopy for 3 or more months after a positive fobt result did not increase the likelihood of colonoscopy uptake (hazard ratio: 0.95; 95% confidence interval: 0.79 to 1.13). Duration of positive fobt status was strongly inversely associated with the hazard of follow-up colonoscopy (p for linear trend: <0.001). In a large population-wide setting, centralized tracking in the form of physician-targeted mailed audit and feedback reports does not improve colonoscopy uptake for screening participants with a positive fobt result outstanding for 3 or more months. Mailed physician-targeted screening audit and feedback reports alone are unlikely to improve compliance with follow-up colonoscopy in Ontario. Other interventions such as physician audits or automatic referrals, demonstrated to be effective in other jurisdictions, might be warranted.

Joined up Clinical Governance: Learning from Our Mistakes

&lt;p&gt;This session will be a practical demonstration, with group discussion of how a significant event can lead to the practice examining what happened, looking at the evidence base, revising protocols &amp;amp; auditing implementation of the new protocols.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;A significant event is an event thought by anyone in the team to be significant in the care of patients or the conduct of the practice.&lt;br /&gt;Significant Event Audit is a qualitative rather than quantitative form of Audit but still needs a structured framework to be successful.&lt;br /&gt;SEA involves gathering information in the form of a timeline of the event, clinical records &amp;amp; accounts of individuals involved.&lt;br /&gt;Scenarios around significant events will be discussed and analysed by the group as if they were conducting a non-threatening, open, fair &amp;amp; honest SEA meeting.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;During the meeting the incident will be analysed to see what happened, why it happened, any underlying reasons, what has been learned &amp;amp; what needs to change. This meeting is not to apportion blame.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;When looking at what needs to change the group should consider whether it is necessary to go away &amp;amp; look at the evidence base &amp;amp; then make changes to practice protocols. Any need for training or CPD for individuals or the whole team should be identified.&lt;br /&gt;A timescale for changes should be agreed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;An audit can then be carried out to monitor the improvements and assess the impact of these changes. The group will consider what audits are appropriate, whether process or outcome audits are useful in the circumstances. They will also discuss how these audits can be carried out.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;SEA is a very useful tool in veterinary practice &amp;amp; a very good way to get all team members engaged with clinical governance &amp;amp; evidence based veterinary medicine in a joined up way which demonstrates the potential improvements to practice systems of work and patient care and safety.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This session would be designed to appeal to all team members whether vets, nurses, receptionists or practice managers.&lt;/p&gt;

A national review of the clinical use of group O D- red blood cell units.

There has been an international decline in the demand for red blood cell (RBC) units. In Australia, there has been a 21% reduction in demand between 2012 and 2015. In contrast, the demand for the "universal" group O D- RBC units is in fact proportionally increasing. The clinical use of the entire O D- RBC distribution for a 5-week period throughout Australia was reviewed. Fate data on each unit issued (n = 9733) were collected that included the indication and urgency of transfusion, reason for discard, component age, and patient demographics. A total of 74% of audit forms were returned (n = 7143). The national discard rate of issued units was 7.9%. A total of 6387 units were transfused into an estimated total of 3008 patients (55% males) with median patient age of 67 years and median RBC age of 21 days. Forty-seven percent were transfused to group O D- patients. A total of 17.4% were chosen for specific phenotype requirements, 24.5% of units were transfused close to expiry, and 24.5% were transfused into patients of other ABO groups. The data appear broadly representative of the current transfusion and inventory management practices surrounding the use of group O D- RBC units. Strategies to reduce O D RBC demand include reevaluation of inventory holdings particularly at smaller centers, increasing the panel of phenotyped RBC units across all ABO groups, more regular rotation of units between hospitals to minimize time expiry, and continuing education for promoting transfusion of ABO-identical RBC units.