The first 2 years of a palliative care consultation team in the Netherlands.
In January 1999 an integrated multidisciplinary palliative care consultation (PCC) team was established in Maastricht in the Netherlands. The team included experts in palliative care who had extensive experience in a variety of settings. One of the major tasks of the PCC team was to give support, information and advice to healthcare professionals caring for terminally ill patients. The PCC team was asked by the government to consecutively register and evaluate all consultations. This article describes these consultations, including information on the requesting caregivers, the patients, the questions asked and the recommendations given in the first 26 months. The results show that the PCC team served the needs of professional caregivers in a variety of settings. Most consultations concerned physical and pharmacological problems and the majority of recommendations were evaluated as positive.
Schrijinemaekers
Veron
V
Centre for the Development of Palliative Care, University Hospital Maastricht, PO Box 5800, 6202 AZ Maastricht, the Netherlands.
Courtens
Annemie
A
van den Beuken
Marieke
M
Oyen
Paul
P
D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D004282:Documentation; D005260:Female; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D007587:Job Description; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020380:Needs Assessment; D009426:Netherlands; D009720:Nurse Clinicians; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017749:Total Quality Management / Q000458:organization & administration