What is the value of ENT specialist outreach clinics?

Ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist outreach clinics, in which hospital-b ased consultants hold clinics in general practice surgeries, have been popu lar with general practitioners (GPs) and patients. This prospective study r ecorded data on 1155 consecutive patients seen by one ENT surgeon in two GP surgeries. At each consultation, a record was kept of the requirement for further investigations that would normally be done at the same time as the consultation in a hospital department. The results showed that 76 per cent of patients needed an investigation, which would be readily available in a hospital but not in a GP surgery (audiometry, endoscopy, microscopy of the ear, a minor procedure or X-ray). This study indicates that. despite the ap parent convenience of outreach ENT clinics to patients and GPs, patients ma y need to spend more time being assessed than they would if they were inves tigated in one visit to a hospital department. Unless an outreach clinic is used frequently, it is difficult to justify the cost of equipping it to th e same level as a hospital department. Limited resources would be better sp ent providing good access to well-equipped regularly-used hospital ENT outp atient departments.