{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,13]],"date-time":"2026-07-13T14:19:42Z","timestamp":1783952382869,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":12,"publisher":"Mark Allen Group","issue":"6","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Int J Palliat Nurs"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,2]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>At Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, high referral volumes were overwhelming the community palliative care team, leading to delays in triage and patient contact alongside existing workloads. To improve this, a triage nurse role was introduced to assess and allocate new referrals, supported by a triage tool. This streamlined the review of clinical information and enabled timely telephone contact and appropriate clinical nurse specialist visits.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Aims:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>To enhance patient care by systematically evaluating clinical performance and attitudes towards the newly implemented triage tool, as well as assessing the team's wellbeing with a focus on reducing team pressure and redirecting the triage process.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Method:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This clinical audit evaluated a service improvement initiative using a mixed-methods approach. An anonymous questionnaire was sent to the clinical nurse specialist and administrative teams to gather views on the triage tool. An audit of referral-to-first-contact times was also conducted using 20 randomly selected patient records (10 pre- and 10 post-implementation) from the team database. The audit was carried out by the care group quality nurse to reduce bias. Pre- and post-implementation groups were comparable, with no other significant service changes during the period.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Results showed that using the triage tool improved the time from referral received to first patient contact, and supported team wellbeing through the process of clearly defining roles and responsibilities.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The implementation of a triage tool has enabled a more efficient and systematic method for prioritising patient referrals and allocating workload and resources equitably.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.12968\/ijpn.2026.0005","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,7]],"date-time":"2026-07-07T10:16:02Z","timestamp":1783419362000},"page":"270-274","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["How the introduction of a specialist triage tool in a community palliative care setting impacts referral to review time and staff wellbeing"],"prefix":"10.12968","volume":"32","author":[{"given":"Sara","family":"Smith","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Advanced Clinical Practitioner Palliative Care, Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Katy","family":"Menear","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Deputy Professional Lead for Palliative and End Of Life Care, Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"5130","reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_3_1_1","unstructured":"Borgstrom E Jordan J. Small Steps Big Vision\u2013Grab and Go Guide to support the realisation of the Ambitions for Palliative and End of Life Care. The Open University. 2023; epub."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_2_1","unstructured":"Church E. Hospice crisis: funding model \u2018not fit for purpose\u2019 say nurses. Nursing Times. 30 October 2024. https:\/\/www.nursingtimes.net\/end-of-life-and-palliative-care\/hospice-crisis-funding-model-not-fit-for-purpose-say-nurses-30-10-2024\/ (accessed 27 May 2026)"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_3_1","unstructured":"Department of Health. Lord Darzi's report on the state of the National Health Service. 2024. https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/independent-investigation-of-the-nhs-in-england (accessed 27 May 2026)"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/09697330241305546"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.m213"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s12904-022-01040-0"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_7_1","unstructured":"NHS England. Fit for the Future: The 10 Year Health Plan for England. 2025. https:\/\/nhsfitforthefuture.campaign.gov.uk\/?gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23492403356&gbraid=0AAAABCq2dIQTMPY_I7nFSxc73k2LDn2V6&gclid=CjwKCAjwrNrQBhBjEiwAoR4VO_wpEsIHe1huoiiW_ZzKljae_fZ7E29KKx5dxw2wSfKxjEB6aGOmFBoC6ucQAvD_BwE (accessed 27 May 2026)"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_8_1","unstructured":"National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Community palliative care. Emergency and acute medical care in over 16s: service delivery and organisation. 2018. https:\/\/www.nice.org.uk\/guidance\/ng94 (accessed 27 May 2026)"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.12968\/bjon.2021.30.8.484"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_10_1","unstructured":"Thomas C. The state of end of life care: Building back better after COVID-19. The institute forpublic policy research. 2021. https:\/\/www.ippr.org\/articles\/the-state-of-end-of-life-care (accessed 27 May 2026)"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_11_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/spcare-2023-HUNC.66"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_12_1","unstructured":"Institute for Public Policy Research. The state of end of life care: building back better after COVID-19. 2021. https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/2zs5hnst (accessed 27 May 2026)"}],"container-title":["International Journal of Palliative Nursing"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"http:\/\/www.magonlinelibrary.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.12968\/ijpn.2026.0005","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,13]],"date-time":"2026-07-13T13:21:00Z","timestamp":1783948860000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/www.magonlinelibrary.com\/doi\/10.12968\/ijpn.2026.0005"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,2]]},"references-count":12,"journal-issue":{"issue":"6","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,2]]}},"alternative-id":["10.12968\/ijpn.2026.0005"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.12968\/ijpn.2026.0005","relation":{},"ISSN":["1357-6321","2052-286X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1357-6321","type":"print"},{"value":"2052-286X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,2]]}}}