Parents' views of child health surveillance

Abstract

THE creation of internal markets and the develop ment of audit have intensified interest in parental perceptions of community child health services. This paper describes the views of 236 parents on develop mental checks administered in both general practice and community clinic settings in Barnet in Septem ber to November 1991. Generally high levels of satis faction with the service were recorded, but many parents did not recall being asked about specific top ics judged to be important by local community pae diatricians and clinical medical officers. For example, only 37 per cent of mothers attending six- week or eight-month checks recalled being asked about sleep difficulties. Forty per cent of mothers (all checks) did not recall being asked about their anxie ties. Many parents were disappointed by the mech anistic nature of the encounter. Other issues raised included the inconvenience of clinic times for over one quarter of parents and the lack of play or chang ing facilities. Ease of access was the factor most commonly influencing parental choice of where to attend. Doctors and health visitors may benefit from scrutinising more closely the content of these en counters and balancing their own screening require ments with the needs of mothers for information and an opportunity to share concerns.