155 European e-delphi consensus recommendations on the role of specialist palliative care services in cancer survivorship

<h3>Background</h3> Specialist palliative care services (SPCS) provide holistic care for people with health-related suffering and those close to them. Historically this included people with advanced cancer, however, many people on anticancer treatment or deemed in remission or ‘cured’ also have significant unmet needs, including poor symptom control, but do not typically access SPCS. It is broadly accepted that cancer survivorship begins at the time of diagnosis and continues throughout life, so all these individuals are classed as ‘cancer survivors’. This study aims to create consensus opinion among European experts about the role of SPCS in different groups of ‘cancer survivors’. <h3>Methods</h3> An electronic Delphi process was undertaken via the online platform Welphi. Recruitment involved purposive sampling of European professional and non-professional specialist palliative care (SPC) experts through international/national organisations and patient advocacy groups. In round 1, participants selected agreement with 105 questions/statements developed from literature reviews. In rounds 2 and 3, questions were modified/added according to participant feedback until consensus (pre-defined as &gt;=75%) was reached for the majority of statements. Spearman’s Rank Order Correlation determined stability between rounds. <h3>Results</h3> Eighty-six SPC experts representing nineteen countries/regions and various disciplines entered the study. Eighty completed all three rounds. Outcomes were achieved for 166 statements and 107 of these reached stable consensus, relating to the core functions of SPCS, the application of ‘cancer survivor’ terminology, categories of individuals who have/had cancer, and the extended role of SPCS for groups of individuals who have/had cancer (regarding components of care, type of service and barriers). <h3>Conclusions</h3> This study has generated consensus statements on the role of SPCS for people who have/had cancer by determining the perspectives of European professional and non- professional SPC experts. Results will be developed further by an expert panel to inform a new model of care.