Wednesday 27 January 2016

Defining the palliative care patient: its challenges and implications for service delivery

BMJ Support Palliat Care 5/4, p 46-52
Helen Mitchell, Simon Noble, Ilora Finlay and Annmarie Nelson

Within the UK, general practitioners (GPs) are required to maintain a register of palliative patients under their care. We explored GPs' views of what defines a palliative care patient in the context of identifying clinical service needs.  Achieving health policy targets which require identification of palliative patients will continue to be a challenge until a workable and reliable definition of the term ‘palliative’ is agreed upon.
Available in print in Arthur Rank Hospice Library, Brookfields Hospital