Improving our health by translating research evidence into local NHS practice

THEME 2

Evaluation of paediatric outreach services

Theme Lead
Professor Deirdre Kelly, Birmingham Children’s Hospital NHS Trust
Dr Carol Cummins, University of Birmingham

Service redesign in this theme is targeted at differences in the quality of and access to treatment in two deprived but different populations. These involve both the community with consultant clinics located in GP health centres and a paediatric service in a smaller general hospital. Preliminary pilot evidence suggests that attendance rates for children can be improved by community provision and that the ‘inverse care law’, whereby those in most need receive the least services, can be (partially) redressed by such means. More