Carer satisfaction with telephone consultations in a community intellectual disability unit

This paper reports on a survey of carer satisfaction with telephone consultations with doctors in a community service for people with intellectual disability (also known as learning disability in the UK health services). A 10-item anonymized carer satisfaction questionnaire was sent out following telephone consultations over a 4 week period with questions about suitability, effectiveness, efficiency and appropriateness of telephone consultations. Out of 13 questionnaires sent, 11 were returned. There was a high level of satisfaction with accessibility, effectiveness and suitability. Similar numbers felt that telephone consultations were an efficient use of time. However more than one-third of carers said they would have preferred a face-to-face consultation with the doctor. Telephone consultations, although routine practice in psychiatry, need further research to establish them as a viable alternative to face-to-face consultations.