Letter writing to parents following paediatric outpatient consultation: a survey of parent and GP views.

This study examined the practice of writing to parents following paediatric outpatients consultation (general practitioners (GPs) receive a copy of the letter to parents). One hundred and three questionnaires were sent to both parents and GPs in order to elicit their views. Fifty-one parents responded (RR 50.5%) and 56 GPs (RR 54.4%). All parents were in favour of the idea of specialists writing directly to parents/patients and none of the parents were in favour of the letter being sent to the GP alone. The majority of GPs considered that the letter(s) would improve parental satisfaction (85.7%) and improve compliance with medical advice (83.3%); 83.6% of GPs stated that the copy of the letter to parents was at least as helpful, if not more so, than the usual type of clinic letters they receive. Despite this, GPs expressed mixed feelings about the idea of all specialists writing direct to patients/parents, with 46.3% in favour of the idea and 40.7% against.