Frameworks for improvement: clinical audit, the plan-do-study-act cycle and significant event audit.

This is the first in a series of articles about quality improvement tools and techniques. We explore common frameworks for improvement, including the model for improvement and its application to clinical audit, plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycles and significant event analysis (SEA), examining the similarities and differences between these and providing examples of each. © 2013 Radcliffe Publishing.