What should a clinician do if they are concerned that a patient may require palliative care services?
If a clinician is concerned that a patient may require palliative services, they should discuss this with the specialist heart failure team for a second opinion and to check if there are any other treatments available that could be tried first which would not require palliative care services. If it is still considered that the patient could possibly benefit from palliative care services, they should then be referred for a needs assessment by the palliative care team as they are best placed to determine whether palliative services are required.