The evaluation of a triage tool for a community palliative care service provider

Triage, widely used by the military and emergency departments, has not been reported in community palliative care services. Policy designed to improve equitable provision of this care has led to the development of a triage tool.

Retrospective data were collected (50 percent of referrals, n = 204) and analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test to determine the accuracy of the tool in predicting patient status at the first visit. Semi-structured interviews (n = 7) with palliative care service staff added qualitative data.

Although significant differences between triage scores compared to outcomes at first visit were observed, issues such as upgrading of triage category compared to priority score occurred in more than 30 percent of cases. When correction for this was made, the tool was found to be an accurate guide to patient needs.

This tool, when used as intended, was effective in assessing the urgency of need, and it is potentially useful on a wider scale, subject to further evaluation.