National Centre for Clinical Audit
Our purpose is to strengthen the development of an end to end process for clinical audit. This is in line with the recommendations in the National Review of Clinical Audit Report. It also meets the needs of clinical audit service providers and multi-disciplinary stakeholders.
What we do
We work to implement the recommendations of the National Review of Clinical Audit Report (PDF, 112 pages, 3.6MB).
The 5 key pillars of our work are:
- National Governance of Clinical Audit
- Local Governance of Clinical Audit
- Clinical Audit Training
- Clinical Audit Education resources
- Legislative Changes affecting Clinical Audit (i.e. GDPR and Data Protection)
2 minute video of the HSE Chief Clinical Officer, Dr. Colm Henry, discussing the National Review of Clinical Audit report 2019, the launch of the HSE National Centre for Clinical Audit (NCCA) in April 2022 and the importance of clinical audit in any health system.
Service providers
A wide range of national clinical audits are commissioned and managed on behalf of the HSE.
These are our clinical audit service providers:
- National Office of Clinical Audit (NOCA)
- Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI)
- National Perinatal Epidemiology Centre (NPEC, UCC)
- HSE National Clinical Programmes (NCPs)
- Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Register (OHCAR, NUI, Galway)
Resources
Clinical Audit Tools and Templates
HSE NCCA Clinical Audit Practical Guide 2023 (PDF, 64 pages, 4.7 MB)
Generic local Clinical Audit template (excel)
Paediatrics Clinical Audit template (excel)
Data Protection and GDPR FAQ’s for Clinical Audit (PDF, 1.29 MB, 17 pages)
Annual reports
HSE National Centre for Clinical Audit Annual Report 2023 (PDF, 3.05 MB, 31 pages)
HSE National Centre for Clinical Audit Annual Report 2022 (PDF, 2 MB, 22 pages)
Clinical Audit reports
HSE National Clinical Audit of ED Triage Report (PDF, 5.3 MB, 44 pages)
Other resources
Irish Clinical Audit Network (ICAN) Learning Set Guiding Principles (PDF, 7 Pages, 640 KB)
HSE National Steering Group for Clinical Audit Terms of Reference (PDF, 700 KB, 8 pages)
Training Events
The Fundamentals in Clinical Audit Course is delivered either via e-learning (on HSELand) - hseland.ie or virtually over one full day and one half day.
The Advanced Clinical Audit Course will be delivered virtually over one day.
The training is interactive and provides a wealth of educational resources and further signposting.
For information on 2025 clinical audit training events and dates, please see the NQPS Prospectus of Quality and Patient Safety Education and Learning Programmes below.
HSE National Centre for Clinical Audit Prospectus 2025 (PDF, 1.05 MB, 14 pages)
If you would like to submit a clinical audit case study that your organisation is running for potential use within the HSE National Clinical Audit Centre training programme, please complete Case Study Template.
For related queries or further information, please contact the HSE National Centre for Clinical Audit at ncca@hse.ie
Contact
Majella Daly, National Centre for Clinical Audit Assistant National Director, National Quality and Patient Safety
Karen Reynolds, Clinical Audit Governance Manager, National Centre for Clinical Audit
Alison Dwyer, Clinical Audit Facilitator