Discharge from palliative care study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Improving patients, carers, and primary care healthcare professionals’ experiences of discharge communication from specialist palliative care to community settings: a qualitative interview study
IRAS ID
322302
Contact name
Katharine Weetman
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Birmingham
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Project 2120529, WorkTribe (University of Birmingham)
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 3 months, 0 days
Research summary
Aim:
This aim of this study is to understand how to improve patients’, carers’, and general practice professionals’ experiences of discharge communications from specialist palliative care.
Background:
Specialist palliative care provides support for people with illnesses that cannot be cured and those at the end of their life who are dying, and their close persons. Some people think discharge from specialist palliative care cannot happen - but it does. Around a third of patients are discharged and move to a community setting, as their needs and preferences change.
When someone is discharged, there should be “discharge communication” with the patient’s General Practitioner. “Discharge communication” can be spoken and/or written. It is well known that good discharge communication is important for patient care and safety. However, we previously found that discharge letters from specialist palliative care vary in quality and content. Patients were not always involved in these communications and offered their letters, as they should be. Currently, little is known about how this affect patients’ and carers’ experiences or what their communication needs are at this critical moment in their lives.
Design and methods:
We will speak to a wide range of people who have been recently discharged from specialist palliative care in a hospital or hospice, and their carers, as well as staff in General Practices. This will include 30 carers and/or patients. We will also interview 15 healthcare staff. We will analyse these interviews to understand people’s discharge experiences and communication needs. This will help us identify what information is important, and how discharge communication can be made better and easier to understand.
Dissemination:
We will produce a summary of best principles for discharge communication from specialist palliative care and share this widely. We will publish the findings in academic journals and present them at conferences.REC name
West Midlands - Coventry & Warwickshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/WM/0250
Date of REC Opinion
5 Dec 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion