To review the history of cleft care in the United Kingdom and the rationale and methodology of a national study.
Design
Descriptive overview to introduce this series of papers.
Setting
Fifty National Health Service cleft teams.
Patients/Participants
Two age cohorts, 5-year-olds and 12-year-olds, with nonsyndromic complete unilateral cleft lip and palate and their parents.
Main Outcome Measures
Facial development and appearance, quality of bone grafts, speech, oral health and patient/parent satisfaction.
Conclusions
The case for a national assessment of cleft care is made. The methodology of the cross-sectional outcome study is described, together with a survey of training for recently appointed clinicians.
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