Can the impact of an acute hospital end-of-life care tool on care and symptom burden be measured contemporaneously?

Objective: To determine the utility of a screening question to identify patients who might die during hospital admission and feasibility of scoring symptoms in dying patients within a study assessing the impact of a brief end-of-life (EOL) tool.

Methods: Between March 2008 and July 2010 patients admitted to five wards of an acute hospital were screened using the question 'Is this patient so unwell you feel they could die during this admission?' Once 40 patients were recruited, the brief EOL tool was introduced to the wards and a further 30 patients were recruited. Symptom scoring using the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS) began when the patient was recognised as dying.

Healthcare professionals' perspectives on delivering end-of-life care within acute hospital trusts: a qualitative study.

Objective: The quality of end-of-life (EOL) care in acute hospitals is variable and interventions to improve this care, such as EOL care pathways, are not always used. The underlying reasons for this variability are not fully understood. We explored healthcare professionals' views on delivering EOL care within an acute hospital trust in the South West of England.

Overcoming barriers to recruitment in care of the dying research in hospitals.

Context: Approximately 40% of the U.S. and 60% of the U.