Accepted author manuscript, 91.9 KB, Word document
Available under license: CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
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Accepted author manuscript, 13.4 KB, Word document
Accepted author manuscript, 13.4 KB, Word document
Final published version
Licence: CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Charitably funded hospices and the challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic
T2 - A mixed-methods study (CovPall)
AU - Garner, Ian
AU - Walshe, Catherine
AU - Dunleavy, Lesley
AU - Bradshaw, Andrew
AU - Preston, Nancy
AU - Fraser, Lorna
AU - Murtagh, Fliss
AU - Oluyase, Adejoke O
AU - Sleeman, K.E.
AU - Hocaoglu, Mevhibe B.
AU - Bajwah, Sabrina
AU - Chambers, Rachel
AU - Maddocks, Matthew
AU - Higginson, IJ
PY - 2022/10/10
Y1 - 2022/10/10
N2 - Background: Independent charitably funded hospices have been an important element of the UK healthcare response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hospices usually have different funding streams, procurement processes, and governance arrangements compared to NHS provision, which may affect their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study is to understand the challenges faced by charitably funded hospices during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: Eligible Organisations providing specialist palliative or hospice care completed the online CovPall survey (2020) which explored their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eligible organisations were then purposively selected to participate in interviews as part of qualitative case studies (2020-21) to understand challenges in more depth. Free-text responses from the survey were analysed using content analysis and were categorised accordingly. These categorisations were used a priori for a reflexive thematic analysis of interview data.Results: 143 UK independent charitably funded hospices completed the online CovPall survey. Five hospices subsequently participated in qualitative case studies (n = 24 staff interviews). Key themes include: vulnerabilitiesof funding; infection control during patient care; and bereavement support provision. Interviewees discussed the fragility of income due to fundraising events stopping; the difficulties of providing care to COVID-19 and non- COVID-19 patients within relatively small organisations; and challenges with maintaining the quality of bereavement services.Conclusion: Some unique care and provision challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic were highlighted by charitably funded hospices. Funding core services charitably and independently may affect their ability to respond to pandemics, or scenarios where resources are unexpectedly insufficient.Keywords: Charitably funded Hospice, COVID-19 Pandemic, Mixed-Methods Research, Funding constraints.
AB - Background: Independent charitably funded hospices have been an important element of the UK healthcare response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hospices usually have different funding streams, procurement processes, and governance arrangements compared to NHS provision, which may affect their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study is to understand the challenges faced by charitably funded hospices during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: Eligible Organisations providing specialist palliative or hospice care completed the online CovPall survey (2020) which explored their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eligible organisations were then purposively selected to participate in interviews as part of qualitative case studies (2020-21) to understand challenges in more depth. Free-text responses from the survey were analysed using content analysis and were categorised accordingly. These categorisations were used a priori for a reflexive thematic analysis of interview data.Results: 143 UK independent charitably funded hospices completed the online CovPall survey. Five hospices subsequently participated in qualitative case studies (n = 24 staff interviews). Key themes include: vulnerabilitiesof funding; infection control during patient care; and bereavement support provision. Interviewees discussed the fragility of income due to fundraising events stopping; the difficulties of providing care to COVID-19 and non- COVID-19 patients within relatively small organisations; and challenges with maintaining the quality of bereavement services.Conclusion: Some unique care and provision challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic were highlighted by charitably funded hospices. Funding core services charitably and independently may affect their ability to respond to pandemics, or scenarios where resources are unexpectedly insufficient.Keywords: Charitably funded Hospice, COVID-19 Pandemic, Mixed-Methods Research, Funding constraints.
U2 - 10.1186/s12904-022-01070-8
DO - 10.1186/s12904-022-01070-8
M3 - Journal article
VL - 21
JO - BMC Palliative Care
JF - BMC Palliative Care
SN - 1472-684X
M1 - 176
ER -