The Wow test in quality

There is usually a Wow factor in the very highest quality. But there is often a Wow factor in the poorest quality. An editorial1 that suggests that the RCGP first started to define excellence in 2008, focuses on a process of remuneration (the Quality and Outcome Framework) as the current zenith of quality measurement and wants more research so that the concepts of quality should be tested until a consensus emerges of the key domains of components, passes the Wow test.

In 1985 the RCGP What Sort of Doctor report was published. This followed 4 years of developing systems to assess the quality of care by matching individual performance against defined and agreed criteria of competence. In the same year, the College published a major policy document Quality in General Practice. Subsequently, and for the last 20 years, other RCGP quality schemes with evolving measures of quality like the Fellowship of the RCGP by Assessment, the Quality Practice Award, and the Practice Accreditation Scheme have continued to do all that is suggested in this new paradigm. It was good idea in 1985 but it’s not a new idea in 2013. All that remains is to convince government to reward these schemes that have 30 years experience trying to ‘capture general practice quality in all its richness and complexity’.

• © British Journal of General Practice 2013