In palliative care, it is often the views of bereaved relatives that are used to assess the quality of care. This short article reports on a new questionnaire - Views on Care (VOC) consisting of 4 questions used with patients to examine their views on the care they receive. Participants were adults receiving specialist palliative care in 8 hospitals, hospice inpatient units and community settings in England. The findings showed across all settings that palliative care was providing benefit but the questionnaire also revealed areas such as communication and trust in healthcare professionals making a difference. The authors acknowledge the study was small and follow up finding limited but consider the VOC a brief and easy to use tool in palliative care.
Pinto, C. et al. 2019. Patients' views on care and their association with outcomes in palliative care Palliative Medicine, 33 (4) p 467 - 469.
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