With the NHS committed to making quality the centre of treatment, clinical audit - a proven and effective process for measuring quality and driving its improvement - has never been a more topical issue. Now thoroughly updated and rewritten, this new edition describes the process by which health professionals, managers and other NHS staff can assess the standard of care they deliver and how closely it corresponds with recommended best practice. It sets out the key principles of clinical audit practice, detailing advances in recent years such as simplified and accelerated audit, improved patient involvement, attention to ethics and methodology and the embedding of clinical audit in organisational governance as well as clinical practice. This book is essential reading for all those who undertake clinical audit or are training to do so, including health practitioners, managers and commissioners in the NHS. It will also be useful to patients who contribute to audit governance. Reviews from the first edition: This book should be available in all trusts and recommended to those of both junior and senior status who are about to invest time and energy in an audit project.' MEDICAL PROTECTION SOCIETY [W]ell-structured with summaries set out as key points throughout. The appendices give invaluable information on numerous websites for clinical guidelines, on clinical audit and clinical governance.' PHYSIOTHERAPY JOURNAL

This book enumerates the purpose of clinical audit, the continuing value of clinical audit in a changing world of healthcare, and key issues and the key principles of audit practice. It sets out the core practical methodology of clinical audit, making clear how to conduct an audit project.

In the past few decades there has been an explosion of interest in the period of late antiquity. Rather than being viewed within a paradigm of the fall of the Roman Empire, these centuries have come to be seen as a time of immense creativity and significance in western history. Popes and the Church of Rome in Late Antiquity places the history of the papacy in a broader context, by comparing Rome with other major sees to show how it differed from these, evaluating developments beyond Rome which created openings for the extension of papal authority. Closer to home, the book considers the ability of the Roman church to gain access to wealth, retain it in difficult times, and disburse it in ways that enhanced its authority. Author John Moorhead evaluates patterns in the recruitment of popes and what these suggest about the background of those who came to papal office. Structured around a narrative of the papacy's history from the accession of Leo the Great to the death of Zacharias II, the book does more than tell what happened between these years, applying new approaches in intellectual, cultural, and social history to provide a uniquely deep and holistic study of the period.

An account, and assessment, of the career of St Ambrose (339-397), from 374 bishop of Milan and one of the four Doctors of the Christian Church (with Sts. Jerome, Augustine and Gregory the Great). A key figure in the transition of the later Roman Empire into its medieval successor, Western Christendom, Ambrose was deeply involved in the political, social and religious issues of his day: struggles between church and state (especially with Emperor Theodosius), the fight against heresy, but he also had a deep influence on Church thought such as the role and status of women. John Moorhead considers all these dimensions in a book that will be of compelling interest to historians of the Church and the late classical world and classical studies.

The reign of Justinian (527--65) was a key phase in the transition from the Roman empire of classical times to the Byzantine empire of the Middle Ages. Justinian himself, born of peasant stock in a provincial backwater, was one of the greatest rulers yet, despite prodigious achievements, he remained an outsider in the sophisticated society of Constantinople. Here, John Moorhead reinterprets Justinian as man and monarch, together with his formidable empress, the ex-actress Theodora, and assesses the evidence from their time for the evolution of a distinctively medieval world.

In the past few decades there has been an explosion of interest in the period of late antiquity. Rather than being viewed within a paradigm of the fall of the Roman Empire, these centuries have come to be seen as a time of immense creativity and significance in western history. Popes and the Church of Rome in Late Antiquity places the history of the papacy in a broader context, by comparing Rome with other major sees to show how it differed from these, evaluating developments beyond Rome which created openings for the extension of papal authority. Closer to home, the book considers the ability of the Roman church to gain access to wealth, retain it in difficult times, and disburse it in ways that enhanced its authority. Author John Moorhead evaluates patterns in the recruitment of popes and what these suggest about the background of those who came to papal office. Structured around a narrative of the papacy's history from the accession of Leo the Great to the death of Zacharias II, the book does more than tell what happened between these years, applying new approaches in intellectual, cultural, and social history to provide a uniquely deep and holistic study of the period.

Gregory's life culminated in his holding the office of pope (590 - 604). He is generally regarded as one of the outstanding figures in the long line of popes, and by the late ninth century had come to be known as 'the Great'. Along with Ambrose, Jerome and Augustine, he played a critical role in the history of his time, while during the middle ages his intellectual influence was second only to that of Augustine.
This volume provides a biographical and intellectual context to Gregory the Great, and new translations of his most influential writings.

Gregory's life culminated in his holding the office of pope (590 - 604). He is generally regarded as one of the outstanding figures in the long line of popes, and by the late ninth century had come to be known as 'the Great'. Along with Ambrose, Jerome and Augustine, he played a critical role in the history of his time, while during the middle ages his intellectual influence was second only to that of Augustine.
This volume provides a biographical and intellectual context to Gregory the Great, and new translations of his most influential writings.

An account, and assessment, of the career of St Ambrose (339-397), from 374 bishop of Milan and one of the four Doctors of the Christian Church (with Sts. Jerome, Augustine and Gregory the Great). A key figure in the transition of the later Roman Empire into its medieval successor, Western Christendom, Ambrose was deeply involved in the political, social and religious issues of his day: struggles between church and state (especially with Emperor Theodosius), the fight against heresy, but he also had a deep influence on Church thought such as the role and status of women. John Moorhead considers all these dimensions in a book that will be of compelling interest to historians of the Church and the late classical world and classical studies.

The reign of Justinian (527--65) was a key phase in the transition from the Roman empire of classical times to the Byzantine empire of the Middle Ages. Justinian himself, born of peasant stock in a provincial backwater, was one of the greatest rulers yet, despite prodigious achievements, he remained an outsider in the sophisticated society of Constantinople. Here, John Moorhead reinterprets Justinian as man and monarch, together with his formidable empress, the ex-actress Theodora, and assesses the evidence from their time for the evolution of a distinctively medieval world.

In 400 the mighty Roman Empire was almost as large as it had ever been; within three centuries, advances by Germanic peoples in western Europe, Slavs in eastern Europe and Arabs around the eastern and southern shores of the Mediterranean had brought about the loss of most of its territory. Ranging from Britain to Mesopotamia, this book explores the changes that resulted from these movements. It shows the different paths away from the classical past that were taken, and how the relatively unified civilization of the ancient Mediterranean gave place to the very different civilizations that cluster around the sea today. This comprehensive and authoritative second edition has been thoroughly revised and updated line-by-line, and contains several new sections dealing for instance with the new evidence provided by recent finds like the Staffordshire Treasure and the widespread effects of the plague. As well as a completely new bibliographical essay, The Roman Empire Divided now also includes six maps and an expanded selection of illustrations fully integrated in the text.

In 400 the mighty Roman Empire was almost as large as it had ever been; within three centuries, advances by Germanic peoples in western Europe, Slavs in eastern Europe and Arabs around the eastern and southern shores of the Mediterranean had brought about the loss of most of its territory. Ranging from Britain to Mesopotamia, this book explores the changes that resulted from these movements. It shows the different paths away from the classical past that were taken, and how the relatively unified civilization of the ancient Mediterranean gave place to the very different civilizations that cluster around the sea today.

This comprehensive and authoritative second edition has been thoroughly revised and updated line-by-line, and contains several new sections dealing for instance with the new evidence provided by recent finds like the Staffordshire Treasure and the widespread effects of the plague. As well as a completely new bibliographical essay, "The Roman Empire Divided "now also includes six maps and an expanded selection of illustrations fully integrated in the text.