Planning palliative care services.
An audit was conducted to assess the use of, and satisfaction with, local services for the care of the dying, which have developed over the past seven years in South Glamorgan. These services include hospice inpatient, outpatient and day care facilities, home care specialist nursing, volunteer services and domiciliary medical consultations. All general practitioners in the district were surveyed about the services by postal questionnaire; respondents represented most of the practices in the district. The results show a variable level of uptake of services for those well established (excluding paediatric oncology), including a high level of satisfaction with the available services. The results identify a lack of provision for patients dying from a non-malignant disease.
Marie Curie Centre, Cardiff.
I
I
Finlay
C
C
Wilkinson
C
C
Gibbs
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010934:Planning Techniques; D015397:Program Evaluation; D013222:State Medicine / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014852:Wales