Changing characteristics of patients with palliative care needs in acute hospitals.

Background: Palliative care services drastically changed over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic between the years 2020 to 2022.

Aim: To report on the changes in a specialist palliative care hospital liaison service (SPCHLS) during the COVID-19 pandemic, and consider the impact of this for longer term service modelling.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of patients admitted via the emergency department (ED) in January 2020 and 2021, who were given a palliative care 'code' at the end of their episode of care.

Palliative care inpatients favour research participation irrespective of prognosis, performance or socioeconomic status: multicentre cohort study.

Objectives: Palliative care needs to embrace research to guide service development and effective symptom management. Healthcare professionals often feel research is too burdensome for patients who have poor performance status or are near the end of life. Many studies exclude these groups from participating.