The impact of covid-19 on out-of-hours adult hospice care: an online survey.
Felicity HassonPaul F SlaterAnne FeeTracey McConnellSheila Alison PayneDori-Anne FinlaySonja McilfatrickPublished in: BMC palliative care (2022)
Survey findings suggest that due to increased demand for community palliative care services, hospices had to rapidly adapt and reconfigure services. Even though this response to the pandemic led to some service improvements, in the main, out-of-hours service reconfiguration resulted in challenges for hospices, including workforce issues, and availability of resources such as Personal Protective Equipment. These challenges were exacerbated by lack of integration with wider healthcare services. More research is required to fully understand the implications of such changes on the quality of care provided.