Abstract

During October 2011 an internal staff questionnaire was designed to gain feedback on the hospital specialist palliative care team from selected nursing groups, junior doctors and consultants. The aim was to gain feedback on the impact and effectiveness of the specialist palliative care service.

A majority of the responses were positive in the impact the service has had on patient care.

Key learning points were the need to continue to raise the profile of the palliative care team, to ensure all areas have access to our availability and how to contact us, and the need for continued/rolling education for all disciplines of staff.

There are currently 17 acute hospital trusts in the East of England with specialist palliative care teams, 5 of which (including Colchester Hospital University Foundation Trust) offer a 7 day service.

CHUFT specialist palliative care teams 7 day service commenced in October 2010. The team covers 24 adult wards across 2 sites.

The aim of this piece of work is to re-audit staffs evaluation of the service, and to look at referrals received by the service from October 2012-June 2013, with particular reference to the weekend service provision and effectiveness of this.