Background

Improving palliative care services in residential aged care homes has been support by supplemental and temporary Government funding. GPs have clinical responsibility for residents and the decision they make on health management and referral to other services which can impact the patients palliative and EOL journey.

Aim 

To explore the perspectives of GPs supporting residents with palliative care needs in Residential Aged Care Facilities and how this may influence involvement of the Specialist palliative care service.

Method

 Data was collated from a purposive sample of 17 GPs from Illawarra, with 11 responses. The brief questionnaire had a question with one Likert response and four open ended questions such as ‘What do you enjoy about working in Residential Aged Care?’

Results and what we learnt

There was acknowledgement of low nursing staff numbers and stresses arising as a consequence and perceived variability in palliative care knowledge of  nursing staff. Acknowledgement of a lack of Allied Health support was expressed.

GPs value their work in RACFs and expressed a positive working relationship with Specialist Palliative Care Service (SPCS). The referral process could be simplified/supported with phone calls and the time consuming current process can put off referring residents. GPs were seeking improvement in communication with SPCS, the initial consult letter is well received however ongoing contact from SPCS was limited. It was felt that the recommendations after GP consults were often not followed through by residential aged care staff. 

It was highlighted that often there are inappropriate goals of care and incongruent family expectations combined with a lack of understanding of palliative care.