Table 1. Classification of specialist palliative care services and healthcare professionals involved in these services.

Category	Belgium	Netherlands	Italy	Spain
Hospice/palliative care unit	Palliative care unit in a hospital: physician and nurses; can call on the support of other professionals (psychologists, social workers, etc.)	Hospice, palliative care unit (in a hospital, nursing home, or care home): palliative care nurses, volunteers, patient’s GP, sometimes hospice doctor or other medical specialist	Hospice: physicians and nurses specialised in palliative care, can call on the support of other professionals (psychologists, social workers, etc.)	Palliative care unit in a hospital: physicians and nurses specialised in palliative care, psychologist
Palliative care service for patients staying at home	Palliative home care team: one GP, two nurses, one secretarial assistant. Their aim it is to advise front-line carers.Palliative day care centre: physician, palliative care nurses, volunteers	Palliative care consultation team: consult all professionals involved in palliative care; consist of palliative care nurses, GPs, nursing home physicians, and other medical specialists, all with extra training or expertise in palliative care*	Palliative home care team: physician and nurse specialised in palliative care; limited contact with GPs. Domiciliary integrated assistance with palliative care: GP and nurse	Palliative home care team: GP, nurse, social worker, psychologist. Palliative day care centre: GP and nurse. Ambulatory palliative care in a hospital: physicians and nurses specialised in palliative care
GP with formal palliative care training	§	GP with palliative care training†	§	§
In-house palliative care service in a nursing home	Reference persons for palliative care in a nursing home: aim to support GPs and nurses operating in the nursing home	§	§	Palliative care nurses in a nursing home
Hospital-based palliative care service (excl. palliative care unit) ‡	Mobile palliative care support team in a hospital: mobile team operating within the hospital, consisting of specially trained staff physicians, nurses, and paramedics	Palliative care consultation team (see above)*	Pain therapy or palliative care specialist consultation during a hospital admission: physicians specialised in palliative care	§

Palliative care consultation teams offer services to patients at home as well as to patients in hospital/hospice/nursing home. Seventy-seven per cent of those for whom palliative care consultation is requested are cared for at home [43].

GPs who followed a ‘training in palliative care for general practitioners with an advisory role’ offered by the Dutch Association of General Practitioners (Nederlands Huisartsen Genootschap, NHG) and who are registered as palliative care advisors in a central database.

For patients admitted to hospital for at least one day in the last three months of life.

No specialist palliative care initiatives available.