Characteristics of community palliative care patients requiring acute admission to hospital

Background: A substantial proportion of palliative care patients cared for in the community require acute hospital admission during their terminal illness. A greater understanding of the multifactorial reasons leading to acute admission to hospital may enable some potential hospital admissions to be avoided through provision of appropriate community palliative care support. Aim: To identify the characteristics of community specialist palliative care team (CSPCT) patients requiring acute admission to hospital. Methods: A retrospective audit of all patients known to the CSPCT who required acute admission to hospital over a five-month period between January and June 2016. Results: A total of 97 hospital admissions occurred, involving 88 patients. The majority of patients had a malignant diagnosis (80%) with 31% still undergoing anti-neoplastic therapy. Of these admissions, 58% were to acute hospital facilities and 42% were to hospital-based palliative care units. The leading reasons for hospitalization were pain (27%), patient/relative distress (24%) and dyspnoea (16%). Conclusion: This study described the characteristics of CSPCT patients who required acute admission to hospital. Further research is needed to understand the reasons patients seek acute hospital admission and to explore if interventions in the community can decrease the rate of acute hospital admissions