Change in Activity of Palliative Care Services during the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Multinational Survey (CovPall)

Objectives: To identify factors associated with palliative care services being busier during Covid-19.Methods: Cross-sectional online survey of UK palliative care services (April to July 2020) (CovPall). Ethical approval was received from King's College London Research Ethics committee (LRS-19/20-18541). The primary outcome was change in busyness (five-point ordinal scale). Ordinal logistic regression investigated factors associated with the primary outcome.Results: Of 277 responses, 71 (26%) reported being a lot more busy, 62 (22%) slightly more, 53 (19%) about the same, 50 (18%) slightly less, and 28 (10%) much less busy. Increased business was associated with homecare services (odds ratio [OR] 1.93, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.15-3.25), nursing care at home (OR 3.24, 95% CI 1.70-6.19), publicly managed services (OR 2.20, 95% CI 1.11-4.34), Covid-19 cases (OR 1.01, 95% CI 1.00-1.01), and staff shortages (OR 2.71, 95% CI 1.64-4.48).Conclusion: Services providing community care, and publicly managed services, may have been better able to respond to escalating needs during Covid-19. This has potential implications for both service delivery and funding models.

Automated summary

The study identified factors associated with increased busyness in palliative care services during the Covid-19 pandemic. Providing community care and publicly managed services were better able to respond to escalating needs. Staff shortages, homecare services, nursing care at home, Covid-19 cases, and publicly managed services were all associated with increased busyness in the services.