OnDemand: Clinical Audit Conference 2026: Elevating Patient Care Standards
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*Presentation decks for speakers who have given permission for their materials to be shared
2026 Overview
Clinical audits are a key part of quality improvement in the NHS, providing structured ways to measure care against national standards and identify areas for improvement. As the NHS shifts towards community-based and digitally enabled care, there is an need to rethink how audits are delivered and used in modern practice. By measuring care and identifying gaps clinical audits help improve patient outcomes, standardise care, and ensure compliance with national quality expectations.
2026 Agenda
Chair’s Opening Remarks
Helen Smith, Associate Solicitor, Patient Safety Researcher and Doctoral Researcher in Medical Jurisprudence and Bioethics, University of Manchester and Eversheds Sutherland LLP
Keynote: Key Changes in the Delivery of National Clinical Audits
- Examining how the NHS’ 10 Year Health Plan reshapes the purpose of national clinical audits, with a focus on outcomes and quality improvement across care
- Demonstrating how audits and data are being used to tackle health inequalities and support the shift from hospital-based to community-centred services
- Showcasing examples from national programmes where long-standing audit data has driven improvements in patient outcomes
- Ensuring clinical audits are used within a digital and patient-centred NHS, so clinicians can rely on trusted data to inform decisions
Drew Smith, Associate Director, Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership
Keynote: Best Practice in Data Collection Across Clinical Audits
- Defining data quality for clinical audit by focusing on characteristics significant to clinicians so audit results are trusted and actionable
- Designing audits with clear objectives and explicit case selection criteria, ensuring only the right patients and events are included and that the measurement matches the clinical question being asked
- Developing data collection processes and tools by specifying key terms and checking inter-rater reliability
- Validating and managing data through quality control and structured handling of missing or inconsistent records so reports reflect clinical reality and support improvement
Nancy Dixon, Director of Strategic Services, Healthcare Quality Quest
Case Study: Delivering the National Clinical Audit of Perioperative Care (NCAPC)
- Exploring how the RCOA in partnership Centre for Perioperative Care (CPOC) is leading the first national audit of perioperative care to improve outcomes across the surgical pathway
- Defining standards and quality improvement goals that will shape national perioperative practice
- Identifying unwarranted variation in elective perioperative practice and highlighting where targeted quality improvement support is required
- Translating national audit findings into a perioperative quality improvement plan that supports services to implement consistent standards
Dr Samantha R Warnakulasuriya, Consultant in Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Quality Improvement Lead, Royal College of Anaesthetists
Questions and Answers
Comfort Break
Keynote: The Challenge of Modern-Day Clinical Audits
- Positioning audits as clinically led improvement tools rather than a compliance exercise
- Designing audits that are feasible in busy clinical environments, using well-defined standards
- Embedding audits within wider quality improvement cycles
- Strengthening support for audits by ensuring leadership teams and staff effectively engage with them
Dr Aklak Choudhury, Medical Director for Quality Improvement, Trust Clinical Lead for Clinical Audit, RCP Clinical Director for Improvement, University Hospitals of Derby and Burton Foundation NHS Trust
Keynote: How Audit Can Make Healthcare Worse (and What to do Instead)
- Examining how the role of clinical audit has evolved across the NHS since its introduction
- Exploring the unintended consequences of audit and governance processes
- Discussing whether current audit activity is focused on measuring the outcomes that matter most to patients and clinicians
- Considering how the NHS can balance accountability, quality assurance and innovation
Professor Scarlett McNally, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust
Questions and Answers
Chair’s Closing Remarks
Helen Smith, Associate Solicitor, Patient Safety Researcher and Doctoral Researcher in Medical Jurisprudence and Bioethics, University of Manchester
Conference Close
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OnDemand
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2026 Speakers
Drew Smith
Associate Director
HQIP
Nancy Dixon
Managing Director
Healthcare Quality Quest
Professor Scarlett McNally
Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon
East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust
Dr Aklak Choudhury
Medical Director for Quality Improvement, Trust Clinical Lead for Clinical Audit, RCP Clinical Director for Improvement
University Hospitals of Derby and Burton Foundation NHS Trust
Testimonials
“Well paced, good speakers, regular breaks.”
“Well organised and structured event. Wide variety of speakers and going forward will be able to use information, strategies and ideas from this event.”
“I found this course very informative. The networking sessions were great to find out different tools to use for data collection, audit etc. The speakers were very knowledgeable and shared some interesting results.”
“I am a first time attender, but will definitely attend again next year.”
