V A Kazandjian. Milwaukee, USA: American Society for Quality Press, 2003. $45.00, 353 pp. ISBN 0873895673

The term “accountability” is fast becoming a mantra for policy makers and politicians. Wherever we turn we hear that organisations and health professionals are insufficiently accountable, that health system reform needs to focus on increasing accountability, and that new mechanisms and tools are required to deliver greater accountability. Despite this interest, much of the discussion fails to be explicit about who should be accountable to whom and for what. A book entitled Accountability through …