Improving access to inpatient palliative care for patients with end-stage liver disease: a quality improvement project.

ABSTRACT:

Background

End-stage liver disease (ESLD) is a terminal diagnosis with a poor prognosis and an accelerating mortality rate in the UK. Limited research suggests that patients with ESLD have unmet palliative care (PC) needs, likely due to various factors, including difficulty predicting prognosis and lack of clear specialist palliative care (SPC) referral criteria.This quality improvement (QI) project aimed to assess and improve access to PC for inpatients with ESLD and unmet PC needs over a 6-month period using a novel intervention incorporating the Supportive and Palliative Care Indicators Tool for Liver Disease (SPICT).

Methods

The project was conducted at a tertiary centre between 2020 and 2022 with three data cycles: one baseline measurement and two Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDS

SUBMITTER: Ward E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12742053 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature