The Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) was established in April 2008 to promote quality in UK health services, by increasing the impact that clinical audit has on healthcare quality in England and Wales. It is led by a consortium of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, Royal College of Nursing and National Voices.
The Partnership holds the contract to manage the National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme (NCAPOP). This consists of more than 25 clinical audits that cover a range of medical, surgical and mental health conditions. Their purpose is to engage clinicians across England and Wales in systematic evaluation of their clinical practice against standards, and to encourage improvement in the quality of care. This programme is gradually being extended to other areas of healthcare, working with clinical and professional advisory groups.
HQIP also runs the National Clinical Audit Forum (NCAF) for online communication among those interested in clinical audit, cooperates with regulatory bodies, issues guidance on good clinical audit practice and hosts events that bring national and local clinical audit practitioners together. Additionally, the Partnership works closely with the National Clinical Audit Advisory Group (NCAAG), which advises the Department of Health on clinical audit and is central to commissioning new national clinical audits.
In November 2012 the HQIP won contracts from the Department of Health to manage the National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme (NCAPOP) and the Clinical Outcome Review Programme (CORP). It is centrally involved in the publication of consultant level quality and mortality data.