Kerry Specialist Palliative Care Service provides a comprehensive palliative care service in County Kerry that is highly valued by those using the service, families, clinicians, and the entire community. The service provides care in four settings i.e., in a Specialist Inpatient Unit; through a Specialist Palliative Care Community Team; at a Specialist Palliative Care Day Service and through an Acute Hospital Specialist Palliative Care Service. The service is delivered in partnership between the HSE and Kerry Hospice Foundation.
This evaluation was commissioned by the HSE/Cork Kerry Community Healthcare with the objective of reflecting on and learning from the integrated palliative care journey to date, investigating the emergence, evolution, success, and transferability/replicability of Kerry Specialist Palliative Care Services (KSPCS).
This report followed a case study research evaluation approach, allowing the authors to provide a unique and detailed insight into the KSPCS service. It is our hope that the learning of this work will also allow consideration of the key elements in KSPCS which may be replicated elsewhere.
