Journal
BMC PALLIATIVE CARE
Volume 21, Issue 1, Pages -Publisher
BMC
DOI: 10.1186/s12904-022-01070-8
Keywords
Charitably funded Hospice; COVID-19 Pandemic; Mixed-Methods Research; Funding constraints
Funding
- Medical Research Council [MR/V012908/1]
- National Institute for Health Research, Applied Research Collaboration South London
- Cicely Saunders International
- NIHR Applied Research Collaboration South London at King's College Hospital National Health Service Foundation Trust
- National Institute for Health Research Career Development Fellowship [CDF-2017-10-009]
- NIHR Career Development Fellowship [CDF-2018-11-ST2-002]
- NIHR ARC SL
- National Institutes of Health Research (NIHR) [CDF-2018-11-ST2-002] Funding Source: National Institutes of Health Research (NIHR)
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This study investigated the challenges faced by independent charitably funded hospices in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic, with key themes including funding vulnerabilities, infection control, and bereavement support provision.
Background Independent charitably funded hospices have been an important element of the UK healthcare response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hospices usually have different funding streams, procurement processes, and governance arrangements compared to NHS provision, which may affect their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study is to understand the challenges faced by charitably funded hospices during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Eligible Organisations providing specialist palliative or hospice care completed the online CovPall survey (2020) which explored their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eligible organisations were then purposively selected to participate in interviews as part of qualitative case studies (2020-21) to understand challenges in more depth. Free-text responses from the survey were analysed using content analysis and were categorised accordingly. These categorisations were used a priori for a reflexive thematic analysis of interview data. Results 143 UK independent charitably funded hospices completed the online CovPall survey. Five hospices subsequently participated in qualitative case studies (n = 24 staff interviews). Key themes include: vulnerabilities of funding; infection control during patient care; and bereavement support provision. Interviewees discussed the fragility of income due to fundraising events stopping; the difficulties of providing care to COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients within relatively small organisations; and challenges with maintaining the quality of bereavement services. Conclusion Some unique care and provision challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic were highlighted by charitably funded hospices. Funding core services charitably and independently may affect their ability to respond to pandemics, or scenarios where resources are unexpectedly insufficient.
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