Audit and Service Evaluation

Please direct any audit or service evaluation related queries to the relevant Audit Department.

Clinical Audit is a clinically led, quality improvement process that seeks to improve patient care and outcomes through systematic review of care against explicit criteria, and to act to improve care when standards are not met. (- Department of Health, 2008)

Audit and Service Evaluation do not require research ethics committee approval - see Beaumont Pathway for Audit and Service Evaluation (drafted BH Ethics)

• The presentation of audit and service evaluation findings at conferences does not require research ethics approval.
• The publication of audit and service evaluation findings does not require research ethics approval.

Not sure if your project is research or not?

The definitions of health research, clinical audit and service evaluation are on the Health Research Board website here (link to HRB website)

See also the NOCA GDPR Assessment Table for Clinical Audit (copyright National Office of Clinical Audit)

GDPR and Audit and Service Evaluation

The National Office of Clinical Audit (NOCA) ran a GDPR Clinical Audit Information session (link to NOCA website) in November 2019.

The Health Research Regulations, Irish data protection legislation relevant to 'health research', does not apply to audit and service evaluation. [GDPR, the European General Data Protection Regulations, do apply however.]