ASSESSING QUALITY IN MENTAL-HEALTH-CARE - THE UNITED-KINGDOM EXPERIENCE

Quality assessment in mental health services is undergoing change in t he United Kingdom following the introduction of market reforms. Tradit ionally, service quality was monitored by professional practitioners w ith reference to user satisfaction. This became formalized and the two main forms of qualify assurance currently used are outlined. However the government is concerned that this may be inadequate for the monito ring of quality standards, specified in contracts between service purc hasers and providers, and that existing systems provide an insufficien t indication of service outcome. As a consequence, the government fina nced the development of a new set of health outcome scales. The import ance of these scales are discussed.