Running head: AUDIT OF A SERVICE ORGANISATIONAudit of a Service Organisation[Student's Name][University]Table of ContentsIntroduction3Defining quality4Dimensions of quality6Gap analysis for aligning operations8Audit & Evaluation: Service Quality ÃÂnd Satisfaction11Measuring Service Quality12SERVQUAL13Cost and quality14Managing quality17The impact of quality management & Recommendations20Conclusion21References23Audit of a Service OrganisationIntroductionThe aim of this very paper is to perform detailed service quality audit of ð non-profit organisation of UK, NHS ðnd to investigate whether service quality could be maintained within budgetary restrictions. The multifaceted definition of quality will be considered first of all, considering that basic concepts of superiority ðnd quality, which are derived from industry, cannot be simply applied to the sector of healthcare. In considering the relationship of cost to quality ð number of examples are used, mostly related to cardiac care ðnd acute services. Primarily our discussion draws auditory results on medical management where the economics of health are more clearly established. This is followed by ð discussion of quality management where issues pertinent to nursing are discussed, considering whether Crosby's (2000) slogan `quality is free' is applicable to healthcare.
In the second half of the paper thrombolytic therapy sector is used as an exemplar for detailed audit ðnd quality improvement: the role which nurses could play in this area is an example of how medical ðnd nursing practice could overlap. This section discusses ð variety of quality tools in identifying the opportunities for quality improvement within cost constraints.
Donabedian (1986: p456) viewed quality as ð precious commodity, his basic premise being that more quality costs more, whether in terms of resources, time, attention, knowledge or skill. In contrast Carpenter (1996) refutes the belief that quality ðnd cost are ð trade-off, claiming there may not even be ð relationship between quality ðnd cost containment: at least any relationship is difficult to establish through...