Bereaved carers' views of a hospice at home service.

INTRODUCTION

In recent years, there has been an increase in specialist palliative care services in the home. Despite this, there have been relatively few published evaluations of such care.

METHODS

This is a qualitative study which used semistructured interviews to explore bereaved carers' views and experiences of a hospice at home (HAH) service in the East Midlands, UK. Eleven interviews were conducted and analysis followed the framework approach.

RESULTS

Carers' views were divided into four themes: caring for someone at home; formal care provided by HAH; access to out-of-hours care; and provision of specialist equipment.

CONCLUSIONS

Bereaved carers generally gave very positive accounts on care delivered by the HAH service. Shortcomings identified were the provision of out-of-hours care and the untimely supply and removal of specialist equipment. It is suggested that bereaved carers provide useful insights for qualitative evaluations of end-of-life services delivered in the home.