Providing palliative care in primary care: how satisfied are GPs and district nurses with current out-of-hours arrangements? |
| |
Authors: | C Shipman J Addington-Hall S Barclay J Briggs I Cox L Daniels and D Millar |
| |
Institution: | Department of Palliative Care and Policy, Guy's, King's and St Thomas' School of Medicine, London. catherine.shipman@kcl.ac.uk |
| |
Abstract: | The complex needs of palliative care patients require an informed, expert, and swift response from out-of-hours general medical services, particularly if hospital admission is to be avoided. Few general practitioners (GPs) reported routinely handing over information on their palliative care patients, particularly to GP co-operatives. District nurses and inner-city GPs were least satisfied with aspects of out-of-hours care. Most responders wanted 24-hour availability of specialist palliative care. This indicates a need to develop and evaluate out-of-hours palliative care procedures and protocols, particularly for GP co-operatives, and to improve inter-agency collaboration. |
| |
Keywords: | |
|
|