Table 2

Referrals to SPC for cirrhosis: reasons and timings

	Liver professionals		General practice		Specialist palliative care
	N	Per cent	N	Per cent	N	Per cent
Reasons for referral to SPC by specialty
Symptom Control	137	88	12	75
End of life issues	138	89	12	75
Hospice/palliative care	123	79	9	56
Social/family	73	47	8	50
Bereavement support	39	25	3	19
Ethical decision making	11	7	2	13
Communicating difficult news	7	5	1	6
Other	3	2	2	13
Total	155		16
Most appropriate times for referral to SPC by specialty
End-stage/end of life	158	89			223	91
Deterioration in symptoms	105	59			198	81
Recurrent hospital admissions	111	63			180	74
Consideration of referral to tertiary liver centre, for example, for liver transplant assessment	32	18			59	24
Initial diagnosis	12	7			21	9
Other	13	7			0	0
Total responses	177				245