ABSTRACT
Professionals often perceive monitoring and evaluation of their work as time-consuming and of little use, and in some instances this may be true - especially where it is externally imposed. To date, monitoring and evaluation of sexual health services in general practice appears to have received little attention, and where examples do exist, they have mostly been commissioned by FHSAs or health promotion agencies and conducted by researchers external to general practice. PACT data for prescriptions of oral contraceptives, spermicides and intrauterine devices can also be very informative. There are various ways of obtaining data for clinical audit. The method chosen needs to be matched to the aims of the audit and the staff skills, time and resources available. Quantitative and qualitative methods can be combined or used to answer different types of question, typically what and how many for quantitative measures, while qualitative methods answer why and can be used to illustrate and interpret.
