Keywords: Palliative Care, Training, GP

Background:

Little is known about the experiences of Hungarian family doctors (FD) regarding hospice-palliative care.

Research questions:

The aim of this study was to evaluate how much of a burden it is for FDs to manage their patients in the palliative phase, how they assess their own role in this field, and how accessible the different care options are in their practices.

Method:

In this cross-sectional survey of Hungarian FDs, data was collected using a 47-item questionnaire compiled by the authors.

Results:

A total of 131 doctors completed the questionnaires. The number of respondents aged under 40, between 40 and 60, and above 60 was 9%, 44% and 47%, respectively.
Almost two thirds of responding FDs had never received training in palliative care.
Fifty-four percent of FDs provided palliative care at patients’ homes. On average, practices had 6 patients with palliative needs per year. Communication with 'problem' relatives and coping with emotionally distressing situations were the main problems identified.
Few respondents (11.5% (15)) did not have a regional hospice provider near their practices, and 3.1% (4) did not have information about available palliative care services.
Only 11 FDs felt that they had sufficient knowledge to care for patients with palliative needs in all cases.
Most FDs (80%) agreed/mostly agreed that FDs were responsible for the care of dying patients, but they held interdisciplinarity important and believed that care should be based on a consensus of several professions.

Conclusions:

The age of respondents reflected the aging FD population in Hungary.
The low number of palliative cases, and the lack of training may be a barrier for FDs to maintain their knowledge of palliative care, and may explain the low number of confident FDs, and the relatively low rate of palliative care provision at patients’ homes. There is a need for training of family doctors in palliative care.

Points for discussion: