• Sophie Peter, Anna Maria Volkert, Lukas Radbruch, Roman Rolke, Raymond Voltz, Holger Pfaff, Nadine Scholten, and APVEL-consortium.
• University of Cologne, Faculty of Human Sciences & Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Institute of Medical Sociology, Health Services Research, and Rehabilitation Science, Cologne, Germany.
• Eur J Gen Pract. 2022 Dec 1; 28 (1): 224233224-233.

BackgroundGeneral practitioners (GPs) are important providers of palliative home care (PHC). To deliver adequate palliative care, cooperation with specialised PHC teams is necessary. Specialised PHC is a type of care for severely ill patients by specialised providers. Little is known about the involvement of German GPs in specialised PHC.ObjectivesTo analyse GPs' experience with realised and desired involvement in specialised PHC. Realised involvement means GPs took part in specialised PHC patients' care. Desired involvement is GPs' hoped-for cooperation with specialised PHC teams: GPs could state whether they want to stay involved, be informed, or provide medical services themselves after referral to specialised PHC.MethodsMixed methods design (focus group with 6 GPs; survey of 445 GPs in North Rhine, Germany, about their experiences in PHC/specialised PHC): Qualitative data was interpreted using content analysis. The authors developed a questionnaire and performed descriptive analysis based on qualitative results.ResultsGPs are mostly satisfied with specialised PHC teams' care, although they report cooperation is not always optimal. GPs describe a high satisfaction with quality of care by specialised PHC teams. However, physicians with higher PC knowledge are less satisfied with specialised PHC. Also, GPs are often less involved in specialised PHC than they wish, especially when they have a higher PC qualification.ConclusionIn general, GPs are satisfied with the quality of care provided by specialised PHC teams but GPs do not always perceive cooperation as optimal. Involvement of GPs in specialised PHC needs to be improved.

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