confidential enquiries

views updated

confidential enquiries (kon-fi-den-shăl) pl. n. special enquiries that seek to improve health and health care by collecting evidence on aspects of care, identifying any shortfalls in this, and disseminating recommendations based on these findings. They include the Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths and Child Health (CEMACH), Confidential Enquiries into Stillbirths and Deaths in Infancy (CESDI), the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death, and the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness.