Acceptability of and need for evening community child health clinics.

An evening child health clinic in a disadvantaged area of a London borough had similar proportions of clinic appointments kept as day clinics offering the same range of services. However, more fathers (45%) brought their children to evening clinics than to day clinics (20%). The evening clinics were particularly convenient to mothers either in employment or at college. The evening sessions were found to be quieter and quicker, but not hurried, and conducive to discussing more personal problems. Over 50% of attendances were solely to have the child weighed and to discuss the child's weight gain and feeding. Occasionally parents discussed other problems like contraception and postnatal gynaecological difficulties. The health visitor was as important as the medical officer to the success of the evening child health clinic. The evening clinic was acceptable to parents with small children and provided a needed and convenient service to mothers in employment or at college.