ABSTRACT
Problems emerge when there is a lack of agreement or consensus over an issue or idea. Internal consultants usually have responsibility for clinical or managerial work and undertake consultation in addition to or as part of their job. The need for consultation can therefore be prompted by a need to redress this in order to be seen to be more competent or better placed in the hospital hierarchy. Consultation in the form of discussion or review of a case provides an opportunity for new views to emerge and for some relationships to be redefined. The reason for choosing this approach is that a large institution such as a hospital has many similarities to a family insofar as the way problems evolve and the way they can be solved. A hospital comprises many departments and disciplines. This inevitably leads to people having different views with departments and between the hospital and other institutions.
