Understanding patient and family utilisation of community-based palliative care services out-of-hours: Additional analysis of systematic review evidence using narrative synthesis

by Joanna Goodrich, Caleb Watson, Inez Gaczkowska, Richard Harding, Catherine Evans, Alice Firth, Fliss E.M. Murtagh

Community-based out-of-hours services are an integral component of end-of-life care. However, there is little understanding of how patients and families utilise these services. This additional analysis of a systematic review aims to understand and identify patterns of out-of-hours service use and produce recommendations for future service design.

Data on service use was extracted and secondary analysis undertaken, from a systematic review of models of community out-of-hours services. Narrative synthesis was completed, addressing four specific aspects of service use: 1.Times when patients/families/healthcare professionals need to contact out-of-hours services; 2. Who contacts out-of-hours services; 3. Whether a telephone call, centre visit or home visit is provided; 4. Who responds to out-of-hours calls.

Community-based out-of-hours palliative care services were most often accessed between 5pm and midnight, especially on weekdays (with reports of 69% of all calls being made out-of-hours). Family members and carers were the most frequent callers to of the services (making between 60% and 80% of all calls). The type of contact (telephone, centre visit or home visit) varied based on what was offered and on patient need. Over half of services were led by a single discipline (nurse).

Out-of-hours services are highly used up to midnight, and particularly by patients’ family and carers. Recommendations to commissioners and service providers are to:• Increase provision of out-of-hours services between 5pm and midnight to reflect the increased use at these times.• Ensure that family and carers are provided with clear contact details for out-of-hours support.• Ensure patient records can be easily accessed by health professionals responding to calls, making the triage process easier.• Listen to patients, family and carers in the design of out-of-hours services, including telephone services.• Collect data systematically on out-of-hours-service use and on outcomes for patients who use the service.