The family doctor and children with special educational needs

Twenty three of the 1548 children registered with a group practice were found to have special educational needs. Only half of these children were known by the health visitor attached to the practice to have such needs. Ten of the 17 children attending school had no reference to their special needs in their case notes. Irregular attendance and poor immunization records indicated a lack of anticipatory care within the practice. Children with a physical handicap, in particular, attended their family doctor much less frequently than normal children or those with a mental disability. Improved care in recent years coincided with the establishment of developmental surveillance within the practice.