ABSTRACT
Community child health services (CCHS) incorporate a range of disparate and evolving services provided by paediatricians, community nurses, mental health professionals and physiotherapists, speech and occupational therapists, in close liaison with public health and information management staff. The staff involved in provision of these services may be managed separately from one another. The aims o f the CCHS are the prevention of disease and disability and the promotion of health. Over the last decade the balance o f activity between disease prevention and health promotion has changed in favour of the latter, with a greater emphasis on public health approaches. The disparate nature of these services, their divided management, their separation from other paediatric services and their low academic profile have resulted in a lack of data about performance and effectiveness which has resulted in great variation in quality o f and access to care for children according to where they live.
