Introduction There is a growing demand for 24/7 palliative medicine services. Efficient and streamlined telephone advice services are key to best delivering this service. We examined telephone calls to the Marie Curie Glasgow Palliative care team; to better understand who is calling, when and why calls are being made, and examine whether calls are being directed to the appropriate team members.

Method Over two separate two-week periods we audited calls received by the hospice contact nurse, duty palliative care nurse specialist (DPCNS), and on-call doctor. We asked call holders to complete data collection forms for each call received. Results were collated and analysed.

Results Over the observed 4-week period 355 calls were received (N=143 + N=212, respectively). Nearly half of the calls were received out of hours 48% (170/355).

Calls were received from patient relatives 28% (N=98/355), district and community nurses 25% (N=88/355), administrative team members 17% (N=62/355), and GP/hospital doctors 14% (N=51/355).

The most common reason for calls were clinical advice 38% (N= 137/365), administrative queries 28% (N= 103/365) and clinical updates 17% (N= 62/365). The majority of calls were of short duration, <15 minutes 84% (N= 297/355).

The most common outcomes following all calls were clinical advice being issued 32% (N=121/383). Calls were mostly received by the correct hospice team member, 89% (N= 316/355).

Conclusion The results show that nearly 1/2 of advice calls were out of hours. Calls are predominantly from relatives and health care professionals, not patients. The findings suggest that our current telephone advice model is efficient and highlights the increasing demand for 24/7 palliative care telephone services. The findings of this work will help further inform local palliative medicine service provision planning.