… Journal of palliative medicine … Patients receiving palliative care can be medically complex and often require … far, few studies have examined patient safety risks in palliative care patients. This survey of palliative medicine …

… Journal of palliative medicine … This survey of palliative care workers in Germany sought to identify common …

This focus group study of Australian palliative care providers examined risk factors for opioid errors among palliative patients. They identified clinician inexperience, the drug preparation environment, and poor communication as contributory factors for medication errors. The authors conclude that multiple interventions will be needed to enhance opioid safety in palliative care.

The frequency and nature of adverse events experienced by patients receiving palliative care remains unknown. In this mixed-methods study, researchers analyzed patient safety incidents among patients receiving palliative care from a national database in England over a 12-year period. They found that pressure ulcers, medication errors, and falls were the most frequently reported types of events and conclude that there is significant opportunity to improve the safety of palliative care.

The authors of this article suggest that offering palliative care services earlier should be considered a patient safety issue. They highlight three cases in which patients in Canada requested medical assistance in dying (MAiD). The patients in two of the cases were never offered palliative care services, and this could be considered a medical error – had they been offered palliative care services, they may have changed their mind about MAiD, as did the patient in the third case study.

… BMC palliative care … Adverse events in palliative care differ from those in other environments. This qualitative interview study of patients who received palliative care identified errors specific to this setting, …

… Palliative medicine … Patients receiving palliative care are often medically complex and may be at … reports regarding patients who received inadequate palliative care during nights and weekends from primary care …

Patients with medical complexities who are receiving palliative care may be at increased risk for patient safety events. This cross-sectional survey found that patient safety concerns were common among patients receiving specialist community palliative care in Germany. Patients reported that physical disability, physical and psychological symptoms, and side effects or complications from medication therapy were the most common causes of impaired safety, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic.

… Journal of palliative medicine … Finding limited research on patient safety in palliative care, this review highlights the need for better …

The authors used qualitative data to evaluate parental perspectives of quality in pediatric home-based hospice and palliative care (HBHPC) programs, and how parents define “safe care” in the home. Thematic analysis identified eight domains of safety prioritized by patients, including an emphasis on the safety of the physical environment, medication safety, maintaining comfort and preventing harm, and trust in the HBHPC caregivers.

… Palliative medicine … Opioids are commonly used to manage … were implicated in adverse drug events in oncology and palliative care patients. Despite a broad literature search, …

… increased provider workload were associated with errors in palliative radiation treatment . …

… discusses the tension between delivering high quality palliative care and the often paradoxical increase in …

… can inform future opioid safety efforts for oncology and palliative care patients. …

… This qualitative study of palliative care recipients, family caregivers, and paid home …