Abstract
123 Background: Cancer patients who are admitted to hospital often have symptom problems and progressive functional decline, and may benefit from palliative care (PC) input. The aim of this study was to determine the profile of patients admitted under Lung and Gastrointestinal (GI) oncology teams (as their cohorts of admitted patients probably have more symptom problems) and whether they are being referred for PC input. Methods: Patients admitted from 1 March 2015 to 31 March 2015 were included. The following were recorded: primary site of tumor and whether it was metastatic, whether the admission was planned or unplanned, referral for PC input, outcome of admission and unplanned readmission within 7 days and 30 days. Results: See table below. Conclusions: Although 84% of patient admissions had metastatic cancer and 82% were unplanned admissions, only 21% were referred for PC input. This represents a missed opportunity for PC input, which has been shown to improve outcomes in patients with advanced cancer. However, if all advanced cancer patients who had an unplanned hospital admission were referred for PC, there would be a large increase from the current workload of the PC team. Hence, there is a need to pilot a novel model of PC provision, perhaps one in which a PC healthcare professional joins the oncology team to provide integrated palliative oncology care. [Table: see text]
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