BACKGROUND: While there are many poorly standardised studies focusing on place of @entity204 , there are limited data on place(s) of care during the final stages of disease. AIM: This study aims to identify where @entity1 are cared for in the interval from referral to specialist palliative care until @entity204 . METHODS: All @entity1 who died while under the care of a specialist palliative care service over a 6-month period were considered. RESULTS: Of the 507 @entity1 included, 255 (50.3%) were @entity1 and 428 (84.4%) had a malignant diagnosis. The mean referral-to- @entity204 interval was 70   days (SD 113, Range 1-838). The majority (n=281, 55.4%) received care in a single care setting-hospital (28.4%), home (21.5%), nursing home/community hospital (4.1%), hospice (1.4%)-and had a shorter mean referral-to- @entity204 interval. Most @entity1 with more than one care setting spent three-quarters of their time in their normal place of residence. A total of 199 (39.3%) died in hospital, 131 (25.8%) in hospice, 131 (25.8%) at home (25.8%) and 46 (9.1%) in a nursing home/community hospital. @entity1 referred by a general practitioner (n=80 @entity1 , 15.8%) were more likely to be cared for at home (p<0.001), and die at home (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: A significant number of @entity1 received specialist palliative care across multiple care settings. Late referral is associated with a single domain of care. General practitioner involvement supports @entity1 care and @entity204 at home. Place of care and ease of transfer between care settings may be better indicators of the quality of care we provide.

Place of care: from referral to specialist palliative care until XXXX .

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['Patients', 'patients', 'patient', 'men'] @entity204 :: ('MESH:D003643', 'Disease') :: ['death']
@entity204 :: (MESH:D003643,Disease) :: ['death']
