Healthcare professionals' perspectives of the management of people with palliative care needs in the emergency department of a UK hospital.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The Emergency Department (ED) is not always the optimal place for people with palliative care needs but is the most common route for treatment when urgent care is sought. The aim of this study,''REasons for PalLIative Care Admissions (REPLICA)' was to explore the perspectives of ED healthcare professionals of hospital admission or discharge via ED for palliative care patients.

Methods

This is a sequential mixed methods study comprising (i) quantitative descriptive analysis of Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) of palliative care patients (code Z51.5) who were admitted through ED in a West Midlands Hospital and for the rest of England; (ii) in-depth semi-structured interviews with 17 ED staff which were analysed using thematic content analysis.

Results

Over t

SUBMITTER: Sausman J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10481573 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature