Underutilisation of EPaCCS (Electronic Palliative Care Coordination Systems) in end-of life-care: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE

To support greater personalisation of end-of-life care, Electronic Palliative Care Coordination Systems (EPaCCS) have been implemented across England. Here, we describe patient factors associated with dying with an EPaCCS record and explore the association between having an EPaCCS record with cause and place of death.

METHOD

This is a cross-sectional study using routinely collected data. Data were extracted from primary care records in 20 of 86 general practices within one Clinical Commissioning Group in England. All deaths (n=1723) recorded between 22 February 2018 and 21 February 2019 were included to determine whether the deceased patient had an EPaCCS record at the time of death, a range of demographic factors, place of death and cause of death.

RESULTS

Only 18% of the sample died with an EPaCCS record, and people who died of a non-cancer cause were less likely to have an EPaCCS record than those who died of cancer (OR=0.41; 95% CI 0.31 to 0.55). Adjusting for patient demographic factors and cause of death, having an EPaCCS record was strongly associated with dying in the community (OR=5.10; 95% CI 3.70 to 7.03).

CONCLUSIONS

A small proportion of this sample died with an EPaCCS record, despite evidence of an association with dying in the community.