Ambulance staff and end-of-life hospital admissions: A qualitative interview study (original) (raw)

Hospital admissions for end-of-life patients, particularly those who die shortly after being admitted, are recognised to be an international policy problem. How patients come to be transferred to hospital for care, and the central role of decisions made by ambulance staff in facilitating transfer, are under-explored. To understand the role of ambulance staff in the admission to hospital of patients close to the end of life. Qualitative interviews, using particular patient cases as a basis for discussion, analysed thematically. Ambulance staff ( n = 6) and other healthcare staff (total staff n = 30), involved in the transfer of patients (the case-patients) aged more than 65 years to a large English hospital who died within 3 days of admission with either cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or dementia. Ambulance interviewees were broadly positive about enabling people to die at home, provided they could be sure that they would not benefit from treatment available in hospita...