Attendances for a New Complaint at Casualty Department of two Childrens' Hospitals in London

In his study of a casualty department in a general hospital, Fry1 summarised his report as follows: 'The present-day casualty department has no specific function and runs as a "general practice". It is misused to a considerable extent both by the public and by their doctors.' A similar view was expressed in a report2 of a study conducted by the Nuffield Provincial Hospitals Trust. A medical correspondent,3 reporting on a survey in a children's hospital, sets out to answer an initial question: 'Are hospital casualty departments and resident hospital medical staff being misused by the public and by some general practitioners?' The report4 of the Sub-committee of the Standing Medical Advisory Committee of the Central Health Services Council entitled 'Accident and Emergency Services' (1962), has drawn similar conclusions and recommends that the use of the title 'Casualty' should be abandoned and called 'accident and emergency service', and that other provision should be made for minor non-traumatic conditions. Early in November 1962 a pilot study was undertaken in the casualty department of a children's hospital over a period of two weeks. The main purpose was to ascertain the use made of the service by patients attending for the first time for a new complaint. The findings confirmed to some extent what had been found in other studies conducted in