Gynaecologic oncology referrals to specialist palliative care in a tertiary referral centre: population, characteristics and outcomes
| dc.contributor.author | Goodings, Anthony James | en |
| dc.contributor.author | Kajitani, Sten | en |
| dc.contributor.author | Pastrak, Mila | en |
| dc.contributor.author | Cunningham, Elaine | en |
| dc.contributor.author | O’Brien, Hannah | en |
| dc.contributor.author | Weadick, Catherine | en |
| dc.contributor.author | Dennehy, Karie | en |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-11-11T15:17:39Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2024-11-11T15:17:39Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2024 | en |
| dc.description.abstract | Background The early integration of a specialist palliative care team is demonstrated to have numerous benefits for patients. These extend beyond end-of-life care to include reducing depressive symptoms, improving quality of life and reducing unnecessary interventions. Aims This study aims to characterise the patient population referred to the specialist palliative care service with a diagnosis of gynaecological cancer. It also assesses referral frequency and response time in order to understand palliative care utilisation in an acute hospital setting. Methods A retrospective chart review and database analysis were performed to extract data on demographics, cancer diagnoses and referral reasons for patients referred to the specialist palliative care service over 3 years. The study focuses on identifying patterns in the characteristics of the referred patient population. Results Analysis of 162 patients revealed a distribution across cancer subtypes: 62% ovarian, 22% endometrial, 12% cervical and 4% vulvar. A notable finding was that the outcomes for patients with ovarian cancer were more likely to be discharged home with or without community care (62%) compared with those with endometrial cancer (41%). A rapid response to referrals was observed, with 70% reviewed within 3 days and 98% within a week. This highlights the service’s efficiency and the demographic and diagnostic profile of the patient served. Conclusions This study gives insight into the demographic and diagnostic profiles of patients with gynaecological cancer referred for palliative care, alongside demonstrating rapid response to such referrals. Despite the rapid assessment times, the research importantly identifies differences in outcomes among different cancer subtypes, with a particular emphasis on the variance in discharge destinations. These findings reflect both patient preferences and medical needs, demonstrating the role of tailoring palliative care approaches to meet the individual needs and desires of this diverse patient population. | en |
| dc.description.status | Peer reviewed | en |
| dc.description.version | Published Version | en |
| dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | en |
| dc.identifier.articleid | spcare-2024-005166 | en |
| dc.identifier.citation | Goodings, A.J., Kajitani, S., Pastrak, M., Cunningham, E., O’Brien, H., Weadick, C. and Dennehy, K. (2024) ‘Gynaecologic oncology referrals to specialist palliative care in a tertiary referral centre: population, characteristics and outcomes’, BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, spcare-2024-005166 (6pp). https://doi.org/10.1136/spcare-2024-005166 | en |
| dc.identifier.doi | https://doi.org/10.1136/spcare-2024-005166 | en |
| dc.identifier.endpage | 6 | en |
| dc.identifier.journaltitle | BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care | en |
| dc.identifier.startpage | 1 | en |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10468/16637 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en |
| dc.publisher | BMJ Journals | en |
| dc.rights | © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. | en |
| dc.rights.uri | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ | en |
| dc.subject | Tertiary referral centre | en |
| dc.subject | Gynaecologic oncology referrals | en |
| dc.subject | Specialist palliative care team i | en |
| dc.title | Gynaecologic oncology referrals to specialist palliative care in a tertiary referral centre: population, characteristics and outcomes | en |
| dc.type | Article (peer-reviewed) | en |
