Lancaster University has been awarded £147,000 by the UK's leading end-of-life charity Marie Curie to research the use of palliative care specialists in hospital Emergency Departments.
The project entitled "Palliative Care In-Reach in the Emergency Department (PAIRED)" is jointly led by Dr Amy Gadoud and Dr Maddy French with Dr Daniel Darbyshire.
Many people in their last month of life go to Emergency Departments, often staying in hospital overnight or for a lengthy period. Hospital palliative care can improve the quality of life for these patients, but they often receive this too late to fully benefit.
The researchers will work with three hospitals in Northwest England (in Manchester, Bolton, and Blackpool) that already have palliative care specialists working in Emergency Departments to find out whether this improves patient outcomes and the effects on healthcare costs.
Dr Gadoud is a Senior Lecturer in Palliative Medicine at Lancaster Medical School and an Honorary Community Consultant in Palliative Medicine at Trinity Hospice and Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
She said: "If our research finds that palliative care specialists in Emergency Departments are a good idea, it may help decision makers and service planners decide whether and how to provide these services. If made available more widely, patients and their families will receive more appropriate care, reducing the stress and potentially number of hospital admissions. It may also reduce pressure on hospital resources by avoiding unnecessary treatments and shortening hospital stays."
The project will look at hospital data to see whether patients who meet a palliative care specialist earlier, while still in Emergency Departments, have better outcomes such as shorter hospital stays and fewer unplanned re-admissions afterwards. They will explore whether the service reaches different groups of patients, such as those experiencing social disadvantage, to those seen by the normal hospital specialist palliative care team and they will develop practical recommendations based on input from staff and patients.
Dr French said: "Our package of resources will provide hospitals and service planners with clear guidance to support the development of these services, so that more patients and families can benefit from better and more timely palliative and end-of-life care."
Dr Sabine Best, Associate Director, Research Management and Impact at Marie Curie, said: "Too many people miss out on the support they need at the end-of-life. While only 6% of people in England and Wales say they would prefer to die in hospital, more than 40% of deaths still occur there. Our aim is for palliative and end-of-life care to reach more people, and to close the gap in end-of-life care."
In addition to funding for Dr Amy Gadoud and Dr Maddy French's Marie Curie Grants Scheme, their colleague, Dr Dan Darbyshire, has been awarded a joint Marie Curie/Royal College of Emergency Medicine grant. Dr Darbyshire's work aims to explore the experiences of patients and families using ED in-reach services. Data from this complementary study will feed into the wider project.
