Evaluating a vertical nurse-led service in the integration of palliative care in a tertiary academic hospital.

Background: Groote Schuur Hospital is a large Academic Hospital in South Africa that is in the process of integrating palliative care (PC) via a vertical nurse-led doctor-supported (VNLDS) service that was initially established to deliver clinical care. PC integration should occur across multiple dimensions and may result in variable degrees of integration between levels of the healthcare system. This research evaluates the VNLDS through a theory-driven evaluation to describe how the service affected integration.

Methods: A mixed-method sequential design consisting of a narrative literature review on the theory of integration and PC, retrospective quantitative data from a PC service delivery database, qualitative data from semi-structured interviews and document analyses. It was structured in three phases which assisted in confirming and expanding the data. Statistical analyses, deductive thematic coding and documentary analyses were conducted according to the conceptual framework of PC integration.

Results: The PC integration process was facilitated in the following ways: (i) the service provided good clinical PC; (ii) it was able to integrate on a professional level into specific diseases, such as cancer but not in all diseases; (iii) developing organizational structures within the service and (iv) the observed benefit of good clinical care increased the value stakeholders assigned to PC, thereby driving the adoption of PC. However, there are still clinicians who do not refer to PC services. This gap in referral may be grounded in assumptions and misconceptions about PC, especially at the organizational level.

Discussion: Observed PC service delivery is core to integrating PC across the healthcare system because it challenges normative barriers. However, the VNLDS could not achieve integration in leadership and governance, education and hospital-wide guidelines and policies. Whole system integration, foregrounding organizational commitment to PC excellence, is core to integrating PC.

Conclusion: The VNLDS service has effectively linked PC in specific disease profiles and normalized the PC approach where healthcare workers observed the service. These integrational gaps may be grounded in assumptions and misconceptions about PC, especially at the organizational level.