Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The purpose of the study is twofold: 1. To look at the responsiveness of outpatient services to patients; their experiences and views of the process of referral and the extent and circumstances in which they want and seek a referral. 2. To consider the outcome of attendance at outpatient clinics as perceived by patients, general practitioners and hospital consultants and to examine the extent of congruence between these three viewpoints.

Main Topics:

The process of referral; the appropriateness of referral; potential patients (those who would like to have been referred but were not); social implications for patients of attendance; reasons for referral and what happens at clinics; perceptions of outcomes in terms of recovery and discharge; relationships between patients, general practitioners and hospital doctors.

Patients: systematic sample from electoral registers of each of ten randomly selected areas of England Doctors: total of patients sample

Face-to-face interview

Postal survey

Patients (to establish eligibility), general practitioners and consultants (of all eligible patients) were surveyed by post. Eligible patients were then interviewed face-to-face.