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Table 2 Characteristics of specialist palliative care teams stratified by referral ratea

From: Specialist palliative care teams and characteristics related to referral rate: a national cross-sectional survey among hospitals in the Netherlands

 

Total

(n = 58)

Low referral ratea

(n = 41)

High referral ratea

(n = 17)

P-value

 

Mean (SD)

Mean (SD)

Mean (SD)

 

No of inpatient referrals

202 (177)

114 (78)

417 (168)

 

No of outpatient referrals (n = 35b)

65 (96)

29 (55)

120 (119)

.004

No of community visits (n = 17)

12 (18)

6 (12)

23 (24)

.06

SPCT Staffing

 No of physicians in team

4.3 (2.4)

4.3 (2.4)

4.5 (2.5)

.71

 No of nurses in team

2.3 (2.4)

2.2 (2.3)

2.7 (2.6)

.44

 No of designated PC hours / w (physicians)

13.2 (16.4)

9.2 (12.3)

22.8 (20.9)

.003

 No of designated PC hours / w (nurses)

35.8 (27.9)

29.3 (24.9)

51.5 (29.3)

.004

 No of designated PC hours / w (psychosocial)f (n = 36)

1.2 (3.0)

1.0. (2.5)

2.3 (4.5)

.29

No of team members with specific training

 # physicians with 2-year palliative care CMEd

1.3 (1.3)

1.1 (1.1)

1.7 (1.7)

.12

 # physicians with 8-day course in palliative care

2.5 (2.2)

2.5 (2.0)

2.7 (2.6)

.70

 # nurses with 1-year palliative care CNEe

1.6 (1.8)

1.2 (1.6)

2.4 (2.1)

.022

 # nurses with basic PC training

0.7 (1.4)

0.9 (1.5)

0.3 (1.0)

. 12

 # nurse practitioner

1.5 (1.4)

1.3 (1.4)

1.9 (1.5)

.17

 

N (%)

N (%)

N (%)

 

Level of education present in team

 Physician(s) with 2-year palliative care CMEd

39 (67)

26 (63)

13 (76)

.38

 Physician(s) with 8-day course in palliative care

58 (100)

41 (100)

17 (100)

1.00

 Nurses with 1-year palliative care CNEe

38 (66)

25 (61)

13 (76)

.37

 Nurses with basic PC training

22 (38)

20 (49)

2 (12)

.009

 Nurse practitioner PC

41 (71)

27 (66)

14 (82)

.34

Participation in other departments’ MDTMsc

30 (52)

17 (41)

13 (76)

.021

Availability outside office hours

10 (17)

7 (20)

2 (12)

.79

Initial consultation

   

.69

 Nurse-based

36 (62)

24 (59)

12 (71)

 

 Physician-based

21 (36)

16 (39)

5 (29)

 

 Unknown

1 (2)

1 (2)

–

 

Proportion of non-oncology referrals

   

.20

  < 20%

14 (24)

11 (27)

3 (18)

 

 20–40%

27 (47)

15 (37)

12 (71)

 

 40–60%

13 (22)

11 (27)

2 (12)

 

 60–80%

3 (5)

3 (7)

0

 

  > 80%

1 (2)

1 (2)

0

 

Non-clinical activities

 Education inside own hospital

57 (98)

40 (98)

17 (100)

1.00

 Education outside own hospital

41 (71)

24 (59)

17 (100)

.001

 Research

22 (38)

11 (27)

11 (65)

.016

  1. aReferral rate: No of inpatient referrals / No of hospital admissions × 100. Low referral rate < 1% (third quartile), high referral rate ≥ 1%. bNot all SPCTs had a dedicated outpatient clinic, while providing out-patient consultations; cMDTM Multidisciplinary team meeting d CME Continuing medical education; e CNE Continuing nursing education. fPsychologist / counsellor, chaplain, social worker
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BMC Palliative Care

ISSN: 1472-684X

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