How satisfied are carers/families with a night team service, as part of 24/7 hospice at home care?

Background. Rennie Grove Hospice Care (RGHC) runs a 24/7 service with an on call night team. Through an independent study, carer’s levels of service satisfaction with the night team were investigated. Methods. A questionnaire was sent to carers (n=268) who had a relative die under the care of RGHC within the last 6 weeks to one year, 84 completed questionnaires were returned. Follow-up face-to-face semi-structured interviews were carried out with carers (n=18). Quantitative data was analysed using SPSS v 22, while qualitative data was thematically analysed. Results. The carer questionnaire reported that 71% thought the speed of the response by the night team was fast. Overall satisfaction with telephone call response was high with 82% very satisfied. Cares also agreed strongly that the telephone calls provided good quality of care (90%), good follow-up care (88%), that they were given sufficient time (88%), and received useful advice (83%). For a visit, 93% of carers were highly satisfied and 7% satisfied. Carers strongly agreed that they were given sufficient time (90%), and were confident in the care provided (90%), care was useful (87%) and follow-up was good (84%), worries were reduced (81%) and they had a say in decisions made (81%). During the interviews, carers described the night service as: supportive, amazing, caring, reassuring, professional, kind and compassionate, excellent, loving, calm. Carers perceived the service to be holistic and rated the service highly for supporting them to ensure family members could be cared for at home, as preferred. For comparison, of those dying in hospital, only 46% were highly satisfied. Carer wellbeing scores were lower than the national average, but reported similar levels of anxiety. Conclusions. A night team service can provide excellent, reassuring and holistic care that meets the care needs and wishes of the patient and family.