362P - Survey to assess the efficacy of continuity of care delivered through an out of hours telephonic consultation liaison

Background

Continuity of care is an important domain of provision of Palliative services. Round the clock Consultation liaison services are provided to all registered Patients (through an on-call number manned by the Resident on call). The Investigator's phone number is bieng provided upon Patient request. Advice regarding symptomatic management (including titration of analgesia), counseling regarding goals of care and opportunity to facilitate a liaison with the Patient's Local physician are bieng provided via telephonic consult. Text messages also form a frequent means of providing important treatment related information.

Methods

29 patients who had contacted this Resident during a period extending from November 2017 to May 2019 were invited to take part in an Investigator initiated Telephonic survey.

Results

11 respondents who were also primary caregivers agreed to participate. The remainder either were unreachable or declined to participate. 5/11 respondents had contacted the on call number while 7/11 had contacted the Investigator's number more than twice. 4/7 were satisfied with the response that they received on the on call number. 2 out of 10 respondents had used the number facilitating a liaison between the Resident and Local Physician. There was unanimous agreement on the feasibility and appropriateness of the on call liaison for provision of Bereavement services. There was consensus that the gender of the Resident did not affect Patient preferences. All respondents agreed that the text message had been an important means of disseminating information. Difficult to control pain was identified as the leading indication for seeking a Telephonic liaison. 3/11 respondents opined that the on-call number should be more accessible. 5/7 respondents agreed that they could have been provided better end of life care. Pain, reduced oral intake and constipation were identified as symptoms that caused the maximum amount of concern during the terminal phase of decline. Two caregivers used the opportunity to air grievances about quality of patient care services that they were provided.

Conclusions

Telephonic liaison services have the potential to act as an effective mode of delivery of palliative (including end of life care) services.

Clinical trial identification

Editorial acknowledgement

Legal entity responsible for the study

Dr. Rahul D. Arora, Senior Resident, Dept. of Palliative Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Scinces, New Delhi, India.

Funding

Has not received any funding.

Disclosure

The author has declared no conflicts of interest.