Continuous Quality Improvement (or Total Quality Management) is an approach to management originally used in manufacturing and now being applied in the health services. This article describes a model of Continuous Quality Improvement which has been used in NSW public and private hospitals. The model consists of Ten Key Elements. The first driving force of this model is 'defining quality in terms of customer expectations' of quality. The second driving force emphasises that 'quality improvement is a leadership issue'. Leaders are required to: coordinate staff participation in work process analysis; train staff in the customer service orientation; lead effective meetings and negotiate with both internal and external service partners. Increased staff motivation, quality improvement and reduction in running costs are seen to be the benefits of CQI for health service organisations.
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