The National Quality Agenda and its implications for specialist societies.

This article deals with the health care quality focus in Great Britain and its implications for acute trusts and specialist societies. In 2009, the National Quality Board (NQB) was established to provide leadership for this quality agenda. One of the responsibilities of the NQB is to provide advice and oversight of the various developing tools for quality assessment. It notes the significant administrative cost associated with clinical performance indicators and patient reported outcome measures, which are used in surgery. Included is a list of ways in which specialist societies can positively influence the quality agenda.