Table 1 Three development phases of the CQI A&E

Qualitative phase

→ Aim: The detection of quality aspects of healthcare performance in the A&E

Literature search

Expert interviews

Patient focus group discussions

Constructive phase

→ Aim: The construction of relevant, unambiguous, understandable and useful questions

Cognitive interviews with patients

Importance study

Psychometric phase

→ Aim: The assessment of the psychometric properties of CQI A&E

Pilot test