[Preventing failures and malfunction in general practice].

BACKGROUND

According to governmental regulations, general practitioners are responsible for identifying domains within their office procedures where failures may happen, or where rules are broken.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Fjellsiden Health Centre has developed a simple system for prevention of professional failures, based on identification, recording and review of cases representing routine malfunction. Presuppositions, procedures, development, experiences and current functioning are described.

RESULTS AND INTERPRETATION

The annual number of reported cases varied between 12 and 52. Most cases are related to lab tests, social interaction, or confidentiality. The typical case was not a serious flaw, but could--under less fortunate conditions - have had an unacceptable lapse. We have found that this system helps us to identify weak points in our procedures. Local quality assurance can be conducted by simple methods.