Palliative care in general practice: GP integration in caring for patients with advanced cancer

Abstract

Background and objective Patients with advanced cancer often desire home-based care, placing general practitioners (GPs) at the centre of complex clinical situations. The objective of this article was to determine GPs' needs when providing home-based palliative care in collaboration with existing palliative care services. Method A survey of GPs was conducted to determine knowledge, skills and confidence in providing community-based palliative care. Results Of the 56 respondents, 82% reported that they were involved in palliative management of at least one cancer patient in the previous year. A significant number of GPs (31%) lacked confidence in providing this care because of patient complex..