Specialized outpatient palliative treatment by the Bochum Medical Service for Palliative Treatment

Most people would like to spend the end of their life at home in their familiar surroundings. Is it possible to look after and care for people at home if the work of doctors, carers and hospices is coordinated and comprehensive? After receiving approval from the Ethics Committee of the Ruhr University Medical Faculty, the data of patients at the Bochum Medical Service for Palliative Treatment were anonymized and statistically evaluated. Complete data from 104 patients were evaluated. On average, the patients were 69.8 years old, and 91% were suffering from malignancies. In 95% of the patients, the main symptom was fatigue, followed by pain (87%) of a mean score of NRS 5.5. Of those patients who were treated and looked after until the end of their lives, only 15.8% died in hospital and 73% of them on the palliative care ward. Our results indicate that by introducing a specialized structure for outpatient palliative care, including a specialized 24-h palliative medical service, an improvement in total care for patients at the end of their lives can be achieved.