The World Health Organization defines palliative care as "an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and families facing problems associated with life-threatening illnesses, through the prevention and relief of suffering, through early identification, and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other physical, psychosocial, and spiritual problems."

Palliative care is a discipline that cares for patients with advanced and irreversible illnesses through a multidisciplinary team (Medicine, Nursing, Psychology, and Social Work), through adequate control of physical symptoms and addressing the emotional, social, and spiritual aspects of the patient and their family, extending this care to the grieving process.

It is important to integrate palliative care in the early stages of the disease during active treatment, with the goal of achieving the highest possible quality of life for the patient and their family.

The unit consists of 23 inpatient beds, two outpatient clinics for outpatient follow-up, and a referral service for other in-hospital specialties. The unit is also coordinated with other medium- to long-stay palliative care units and home care teams to provide continuity of care for patients outside the hospital setting.

Although care is predominantly provided to patients with oncological diseases, palliative care also provides care to patients with advanced chronic medical conditions:

  • Advanced congestive heart failure (NYHA IV).
  • Advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, GOLD stage IV.
  • Chronic kidney failure.
  • Advanced liver failure (CHILD C10).
  • Neurodegenerative diseases (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's, dementia, etc.) or stroke.

The main characteristics of the Units in acute care hospitals are:

  • • Short average stay (<14 days; mean ≅7 days); maximum complexity and instability of physical problems; patients with very advanced and terminal stages of their illness or with severe symptoms in earlier stages, frequently referred from other hospital services or units; they anticipate and facilitate decision-making through a multidisciplinary approach.
  • • They have the support of specific services for the treatment of complex symptoms (Radiotherapy, Interventional Radiology, Pain Unit, etc.) equipped with a highly specialized and multidisciplinary palliative care team.
  • • They participate in research.
  • • They train other healthcare professionals to acquire knowledge and skills in palliative care through courses, lectures, and rotations in the service.