# Introduction

This free course, Understanding service improvement in healthcare, explores the idea of service improvement in healthcare. You will find it useful if you work in healthcare, or if you are involved in healthcare in some other way, for example as a volunteer, campaigner, relative or service user.

The concept of service improvement is important because it is usually at the centre of discussions around change, particularly when resources are limited and difficult decisions have to be made about healthcare priorities. In such circumstances there is likely to be considerable ambiguity about what constitutes ‘improvement’ and ‘quality’.

This OpenLearn course is an adapted extract from the Open University course K828 Researching and evaluating practice.

OpenLearn - Understanding service improvement in healthcare
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