Quality Assurance: An Integral Part of Private Physiotherapy Practice† †Based on a paper presented on behalf of the National Quality Assurance Committee at the APA Congress in Sydney, May 1989.

Quality Assurance has been defined as ‘looking at what we do to and for our patients, thinking about it and deciding whether it comes up to acceptable standards, and if not, doing somet hing about it’ (Legge 1984). Underlying the concept of Quality Assurance is the philosophy that the patient is the focus of physiotherapy, and he therefore expects and deserves optimum care (McCoy and Grant 1988). Greater marketplace competition from fringe health sciences, the rising cost of health care and the increasing sophistication of the health. consumer has increased the need to practise Quality Assurance to ensure optimal physiotherapy performance and outcomes (Vuori 1982)