ABSTRACT

Total Quality Management (TQM), formerly adopted only by a few industrial establishments in Turkey, is nowa-days gaining increased attention by public, health, educati-on and local governmental institutions. TQM comprises, in addition to adaptation to standarts, management of ali pro-cedures aiming to improve product and service quality, in-terpersonal relationships of employees, or shortly expres-sed, ali fields of work and work process quality.

In the present study, we attempt to contribute to the application of TQM also in forensic medicine and forensic Sciences as in many other fields of the contemporary life.

We investigated ali improvement-related efforts to cons-titute high quality service and product management under-taken by industrial and health institutions. We furthermore built up preliminary projects in the field of forensic medicine and forensic Sciences, thus taking first steps on the jour-ney to quality assurance Systems and international standar-dization.

Expectations to the progress in forensic medicine and forensic Sciences, as brought forward by justice and also simply by citizens, necessitates together with increasing communication patients’ and consumers’ rights movements, cost factors, private insurance companies, justice reforms and technological as well as scientific progress, the adaptation of the idea of TQM.

Keywords: Total quality management, Forensic medicine; Standardization, Accreditation, Leadership.