Who Owns Quality in the Occupational Therapy Profession and How Do We Assure It?

This article examines the basic concepts of quality assurance. It explores the ownership of quality assurance within the National Health Service and within the occupational therapy profession. Particular attention is given to the role of the employee as a consumer within the NHS and also to the role of the client as a consumer without. Their respective parts in the assurance of quality are explored. In addition, the need for standards to be set and monitored in current occupational therapy practice is emphasised, with responsibility centred on the profession itself. The increasing need to involve the satisfaction of the client consumer as a measure of outcome is also suggested as part of the assurance of quality.