Background: Parent assessment of outpatient child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) is now part of the Norwegian quality indicator system. This national survey included a validated questionnaire that assessed three aspects of care from a parental perspective.
Material and methods: Questionnaires were mailed to 17,080 parents of children and adolescents receiving care from CAMHS on an outpatient basis between 1 September and 31 December 2006. Two postal reminders were sent and telephone interviews were conducted with a sample of non-respondents. 7 906 (46%) parents returned a completed questionnaire. Three scales about treatment providers, treatment outcome and information/influence were identified (scales scored 0 to 100 where 100 represent the best experiences).
Results: The parents were most satisfied with the treatment providers (national mean 75). The national mean for the treatment outcome was 72 and for the scale concerning information and patients' possibilities to influence decisions the mean score was 59. The clinic scores varied considerably; the score for information and influence varied most (48-68). Few scores were however significantly different from the national average.
Interpretation: Most parents have good experience with the CAMHS. The scale concerning information and influence has the greatest potential for improvement. Several CAMHS had higher scores for all aspects of parent experience and may have useful information to convey to other clinics.