Priorities for ‘out-of-hours’ home-based palliative care for professionals, patients, and family caregivers: A qualitative interview study

Priorities for palliative and end-of-life community care out-of-hours centre on good relational care and support for staff to deliver both relational and transactional care. Distress for healthcare professionals when unable to provide the level of care needed is marked in the out-of-hours period, with timely care often impeded by resource constraints. Prioritisation of systems for care coordination between specialist and community and primary care teams is required to meet patient priorities of timely management of distressing symptoms and access to medicines. Systematic assessment of the support needs of family caregivers is essential for them to manage care out-of-hours when professional care is often limited.