Satisfaction with hospital care at the end of life

Objectives: To determine the satisfaction of relatives of deceased patients with the care received in a palliative care unit (PCU) and compare it with cases in which a team with specific psychological care were not involved. Material and methods: An anonymous survey (n =202) was administered to the relatives (response rate, 42.1%), which evaluated 9 issues related to the process of dying and the overall assessment of the care. Results: The overall satisfaction was high (mean score of 9.22); the score for the full team was 9.40, while that of the team without the psychologist was 8.40 (P=.005). The items that scored highest were "team availability", "information received" and "assistance for facing the disease", followed by "pain control", "peaceful death", "assistance for patient-family communication", "grief support" and "quality of life". Conclusions: Based on the relatives' assessment, the hospital PCU teams help increase the quality of care at the end of life. (C) 2019 Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. and Sociedad Espanola de Medicina Interna (SEMI). All rights reserved.