Specialised Palliative Care in Day Clinic, Hospital Unit or at Home: Which for Whom and When? A Retrospective Routine Data Analysis.

Background: Palliative care units and specialised palliative home care teams are well established in many countries. Palliative day-care clinics, however, are not. Studies assessing which patients benefit from this setting of care are rare. Aim: This is the first routine data analysis of patients treated in three settings of specialised palliative care within a single geographical region. Our aim was to gain understanding of how patients in this region, where specialised palliative care structures are well-established, differ in their characteristics and treatments, and to explore the potential role of a palliative day-care clinic. Design: Retrospective data were extracted from medical records and analysed using SPSS Results: Patients attending the palliative day-care clinic were more likely to have cancer (90%, Conclusions: The three care models differ in their patient populations, time-based criteria and symptom burden-with the palliative day-care clinic treating younger patients at earlier stages of the disease, with a lower ECOG score and a less complex symptom burden. These variations emphasise the importance of tailoring palliative care to the needs of patients and the progression of their disease. Recognising these differences can enhance integrated care pathways and patient-centred outcomes in various settings.