ABSTRACT

External schemes for reviewing health care organizations have multiplied since the 1990s as revelations mounted on the unsafe and poor quality care that patients received in some hospitals. Following a colostomy operation at Stafford Hospital the patient was treated on the Intensive Care Unit where the care was second to none' and he slowly began to recover. Regulatory conversations are hindered by lack of agreement on terminology thus making it difficult to arrive at shared understandings let alone shared practices. Licensure refers to the legal recognition of an organization or a practitioner. Licensing is defined as a process by which a government authority grants permission to an individual practitioner or health care organization to operate or to engage in an occupation or profession'. Licensure refers to the legal recognition of an organization or a practitioner.