QUALITY CIRCLES AND THEIR POTENTIAL APPLICATION TO RURAL HEALTH-CARE IN PAPUA-NEW-GUINEA

A quality circle is a group of service providers who meet regularly to solve problems relating to the quality of their work. This is an exam ple of bottom-up rather than top-down management which has found consi derable success in the industries of the developed world. This article describes the principles which govern the operation of quality circle s, the expected benefits and how best to introduce them. The problems relating to the provision of quality health care in rural areas and th e potential application of the quality circle methodology are discusse d.