Quality is an integral part of screening programmes.

A proactive approach to quality improvement has been adopted by the National Screening Unit to achieve its vision of saving lives, reducing inequalities and improving the nation's health.

Quality is the degree to which health services increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes for individuals and communities.

Quality improvement is the continuous search for ways to improve the quality of services. It emphasises the improvement of work processes to achieve desired outcomes and focuses on developing systems and investing in people to achieve quality health outcomes.

The National Screening Unit's Improving Quality: A Framework for Screening Programmes in New Zealand sets out the expectations for screening programmes.

The Framework is for people working in screening programmes, nationally and locally, to assist in the delivery of high-quality screening. It will help with both the design and implementation of screening services.

The Framework will be reviewed two years after publication so local experience and new international evidence can be added.  Stakeholders will be asked for their comments.