ABSTRACT
The primary healthcare team is involved throughout the patient’s illness and has a key role to play at a number of stages in the patient’s final journey.
It can be difficult to be sure when palliative care should begin.1 Frequently it is the hospital that informs the primary healthcare team and, sometimes, the patient, that active treatment will no longer be pursued. This can be a difficult transition for both the patient and the primary care professionals, sometimes necessitating a re-evaluation of prognosis and always a shift in emotional gear. It is usually helpful to contact the palliative care team early rather than late: it is easier for everyone to build relationships if there is more time to do so. This contact is often initiated by the hospital as it relinquishes responsibility, or by the practice as it recognizes the need to contribute more, and to become the focus of care.
