Provider perspectives on palliative care needs at a major teaching hospital

Jericho Metropolitan Hospital (JMH) is a major Australian teaching hospital which lacked a designated palliative care service at the time this study was conducted. A questionnaire addressing palliative care service needs, and educational and support needs of staff, was sent to 267 multi-disciplinary oncology staff at JMH. A response rate of 83% was achieved. Staff identified a number of palliative care needs that were being particularly poorly addressed by existing services. These included: spiritual support, cultural needs, grief and bereavement support, pleasant surroundings, adequate privacy and facilities for families. The majority of respondents identified the following issues as critical problems in palliative care provision: lack of a designated palliative care service, lack of palliative care education of staff, unmanageable caseloads and inadequate physical facilities for the provision of care. Only 24% of respondents reported having had any palliative care education, and 92% of respondents expressed a need for further education. The majority of respondents (79%) expressed a need for improved staff support. There was a significant association between perceived need for improved support and professional discipline (chi2 = 31.33, P < 0.002), with medical staff being significantly less likely than other staff groups to report a need for improved support. Overall, the health providers surveyed identified major deficiencies in the provision of palliative care to cancer patients at JMH and in the palliative care education and support for staff caring for terminally ill cancer patients. The findings support the need for a designated palliative care service at JMH to improve the standard of care of dying cancer patients, and the need for improved palliative care education and support for staff.