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Failure to produce improvement in ECT documentation

University Department of Psychiatry, Royal South Hants Hospital, Southampton SO14 0YG

^* Correspondence

"Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness ... those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it" (George Santayana, 1863–1952).

A previous survey carried out in our unit revealed deficiencies in electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) documentation. With the aim of correcting these deficiencies, the standard procedure for completing the audit cycle was followed and the survey was repeated. The results question the assumption that simply completing the audit cycle ‘automatically’ leads to an improvement in practice. Possible reasons why improvement did not come about in this study are discussed.