Publications
HST provides free electronic access to over 500 health systems research related reports, publications and papers. Close to 300 of these are publications that have been commissioned and funded by the Trust. Topics include among others district systems development, drug supply management, human resource development, informatics, legislation, finance, environmental health, mental health, lessons learnt, nutrition and sexually transmitted diseases / HIV/AIDS. The main publication of the HST is the annual South African Health Review. From 2005 all HST publications will be available in low resolution only. To explore the range of publications HST offers use the Advanced search to search using a variety of criteria.

It is written for District Managers, Clinic Super visors and STI Coordinators to assist them in developing a plan to evaluate the quality of care in the clinics for which they are responsible and to develop action plans for improving this care.

It is based on the use of a quality improvement instrument, the District STI Quality of Care Assessment (DISCA). The DISCA was developed after extensive consultation with nurses, public health professionals and health service managers, and measures key input, process and output indicators related to management of people with sexually transmissible infections (STI).

This booklet is part of a package of resources related to the DISCA. The package includes A Practical Guide to Using the DISCA, a shorter guide to the DISCA, the DISCA form itself and a set of summary sheets for analysing information from 6 clinics. This booklet focuses mainly on analysing, interpreting and reporting on the findings from several completed DISCA forms.