The quality of healthcare

The quality of healthcare provided by a healthcare system is not always easily assessed. How can one assess the smile of reassurance from a nursing sister or the feeling of satisfaction of a patient when visiting a doctor in a resource-limited setting? There are, however, some objective measures of healthcare activity. In the case of obstetrics there is perinatal mortality. This can be adjusted to compensate for the rate of premature birth, and then expressed as the perinatal care index. Maternal mortality is another yardstick of care in obstetrics and that part of gynaecology that deals with early pregnancy.