Background: The palliative home care teams anchored at the department of palliative medicine at Bispebjerg Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark is one of the first palliative home care teams in Denmark. It offers support to district nurses and GPs who take care of palliative cancer patients.
Aims: To evaluate the specialised palliative home care team at Bispebjerg Hospital. To propose ways for optimisation of the home care team.
Methods: The GP and district nurse received a questionnaire at the first visit in the patients’ home. A similar questionnaire was mailed after one month. The questionnaire contains questions regarding the care and treatment of the patient, educational value for the GP and district nurse, as well as their views of collaboration with the home care team. There was a mixture of closed and open questions. Descriptive statistics was performed. The qualitative data were analysed using Grounded Theories open coding.
Results: In 180 patients, the home care team collaborated with GPs and district nurses. 132 (73.3%) of the GPs and 140 (77.8%) of the district nurses completed one or both questionnaires. After one month 90% of the GPs and 95% of the district nurses thought that the care and treatment of the patient had improved. They especially mentioned improved symptom control and patients feeling more secure. 90% of the GPs and 76% of the district nurses had learned aspects of palliative care, eg. better communication and symptom control. The degree of satisfaction in collaborating with the home care team was also high-87% of the GPs and 98% of the district nurses were satisfied. However, it was considered very important that the home care team informs the GPs and the district nurses regularly, and that the first meeting in the patients’ home is held at a time where the GP can attend.
Conclusion: There is a great need for and satisfaction with collaboration with the palliative home care team. More palliative home care teams are needed in Denmark.