Cleft lip and palate management by U.K. consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeons: a national survey.
OBJECTIVE
Following the report of the Clinical Standards Advisory Group (CSAG), a national survey of U.K. consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeons was performed to determine the current cleft lip and palate practice of this group prior to the implementation of proposed radical changes in the delivery of cleft services. The views of these surgeons regarding the proposed changes was also sought.


METHODS
An anonymous postal questionnaire sent to all 266 consultants in the U.K., which requested information on the practice of cleft surgery during a defined 1-year period (March 1997 through February 1998). It included the numbers and types of procedures performed, the involvement of multidisciplinary care, research and audit activity, and questions regarding the implementation of CSAG.


RESULTS
One hundred ninety-one replies (72% response rate). Seventy-three surgeons were actively involved with mainly secondary cleft surgery. A varied number and range of procedures were undertaken, with most surgeons performing less than five of each procedure per year. Audit and research activity was 26%. The majority of both noncleft and cleft surgeons agreed with proposals made by CSAG (except for cleft osteotomy procedures).


CONCLUSIONS
In the U.K. at present, there are many oral and maxillofacial surgeons performing mainly secondary cleft surgery; overall, the number of procedures performed by these surgeons per year is small. Intraspecialty referral is suggested to further improve patient outcome.
Brennan
P A
PA
Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth, United Kingdom. brennandocs@btinternet.com
Macey-Dare
L V
LV
Flood
T R
TR
Markus
A F
AF
Uppal
R
R
D000543:Alveoloplasty; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D016025:Bone Transplantation; D002971:Cleft Lip / Q000601:surgery*; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008485:Medical Audit; D010027:Osteotomy / Q000379:methods; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010348:Patient Care Team; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012106:Research; D013515:Surgery, Oral; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D006113:United Kingdom