AUDIT AND FAMILY SYSTEMS CONSULTATION - EVALUATION OF PRACTICE AT A CHILD AND FAMILY CENTER

This audit of practice at a child and family centre included a 16-mont h case note review covering 319 cases, a postal survey of 45 families and an interview survey of ten GPs who typically referred cases to the centre. The audit furnished information from three different perspect ives on the referral process, the consultation process, and outcome fo r clients attending the centre. The referral rate was about one new ca se per day and peak referral times were the beginning of the autumn an d winter school terms. Almost half the referrals came from GPs; the re mainder were largely from Paediatrics, Education and Social Services. Most clients were seen within two months. Half of the families referre d had serious psychosocial difficulties including multiple problem mem bers, multi-problem children, multi-agency involvement, psycho-educati onal difficulties, child protection problems or child placement diffic ulties. The majority of cases received six hours of consultation. Fami lies where child abuse had occurred or families containing a multi-pro blem adolescent received a more intensive service. Between a half and three-quarters of cases had positive outcomes as rated by staff and pa rents. The service was viewed by GPs to be highly satisfactory. On the negative side, many parents felt ill-prepared for the consultation pr ocess and most children did not enjoy the experience.