Audit – Audits compare current practice in your workplace against a recognised ‘standard’. These standards could be issued by any official authority on a subject e.g. NICE, the NHS, a leading society (e.g. British Thoracic Society for Asthma) or your local hospital protocols.
QI – Quality improvement projects (QIPs) involve reviewing current practice and designing ways to improve it. Audits can improve quality of care but by definition must compare practice to a ‘standard’. In contrast, QIPs allow creativity by enabling improvements in areas that might not have easily identifiable standards.