A PROFILE OF FAMILY-PLANNING AUDIT IN ENGLAND 1994-1997

Audit has been entered into enthusiastically by most of the multidisci plinary! teams giving family planning services but the nature of the s ubject makes audit particularly difficult in this field. in many cases it has been used as a tool for determining standards rather than a to ol for determining compliance to them. If family planning audit and ev aluation is to substantially improve in quality, a great deal of work needs to be done; particularly in the formation of appropriate guideli nes and in the increased utilisation of audit/research specialists to advise on methodology. It is hoped that the new clinical effectiveness committee of the faculty will take a lead in this; if so it will undo ubtedly gain support from faculty members.