The value of and need for paediatric outpatient review attendance as p
erceived by parents, children, consultants, and general practitioners
(GPs) were general assessed. One hundred and ninety one parents of 239
children over 7 years of age undergoing review were randomly selected
for a semistructured interview. For each parent interviewed, an audit
question-completed was completed after case note review by another pa
ediatrician. A random sample of the patients' GPs was surveyed by post
al questionnaire. Twenty per cent of parents and 26% of GPs felt that
the GP could care for the child as well as or better than the hospital
, whereas only 6% of consultants felt this to be so. Regarding future
attendance of the child at the hospital, 48% of parents and 32% of GPs
felt the child could either be discharged or seen when parents were w
orried, whereas consultants felt 24% of patients should have been disc
harged.