About EQuiP

The European Association of Quality and Safety in General Practice/Family Medicine (EQuiP)

The aim of EQuiP is to contribute to the achievement of high levels of quality and safety of care for patients in general practice in all European countries.

EQuiP will endeavour to achieve this by offering a structure for collaboration and exchange of expertise and methodology and by initiating projects on development and evaluation with regard to Quality Improvement (QI) and Quality Management and Development, which will be used here as the most comprehensive definition.

Quality and safety development for general practice is a continuous process of planned activities based on performance review and setting of explicit targets for good clinical practice with the aim of improving the actual quality of patient care.

This understanding of Quality Development focuses on a critical look at the actual performance of general practitioners and their practices rather than on competence alone.

The members of EQuiP assume that this Quality Development should be the responsibility of the medical profession.

Members of EQuiP base their work on quality improvement and patient safety being;

• A professional responsibility
• A process
• Covering all aspects of patient care
• An integrated part of medical education
• A routine part of daily practice
• Patient centred
• Enhancing the appropriate use of medical services
• Acknowledging the specific strategies of Family Medicine/General Practice
• Making decisions explicit
• No punitive