5 years as active GP). Table ​Table11 displays the parts of the Netherlands where the respondents were working. Table 1 Working area of participating nurses and GPs Experiences with specific cases We asked the respondents to describe in detail the background characteristics of their last Turkish or Moroccan terminally ill patient and their experiences in caring for them and their families. As a result, we got an impression of 169 cases as experienced by GPs or nurses. Two of the 171 respondents Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical did not answer this particular question. As table ​table22 shows, the

majority of the patients described were males aged between 51 and 70 years. Most of them died of cancer. Other death causes listed were diabetes, stroke and COPD. Table 2 Patient characteristics in both nurses’ and GPs’ cases In the cases Azacitidine chemical structure presented by nurses, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical 60% of the Moroccan patients and 67% of the Turkish patients mastered the Dutch language. By contrast in the GPs’ cases, only 40% of the terminal Moroccans and 33% of the terminal Turkish patients mastered Dutch. This might be an indication that patients

who do not speak Dutch are less referred to home care. In the cases described by nurses many referrals to home care came from hospitals (45%). Only 37% came from GPs. Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical The main reason for referral to home care in the cases described by nurses was the overburdening of informal carers (50%). In more than half of the cases (59%) presented Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical by GPs the family used home care, mainly (81%) after a referral by the GP. The main reason for GPs to refer to home care was their opinion that professional care

was needed (72%) or that the family asked for support (40%). However, in 41% of the cases described by GPs, professional home care was not used at all. The main reason for not using home care according to the GPs was that the family wanted to care for the patient without professional help. However, in 42% of the cases where home care was not used, the GPs later regretted the decision not to refer, because the patient had not received proper care or Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical the informal carer had become overburdened. According to the general practitioners more than half of the relevant patients were satisfied with the home care provided. Nurses had the same impression. Reasons over for not being satisfied were mainly rooted in communication problems. Patients’ family members showed even greater satisfaction than patients, according to the responding GPs and nurses: in 75% of the cases described by nurses and in 64% of GP cases family members were satisfied with the home care delivered. Family members’ dissatisfaction seemed to be mainly related to their conviction that terminally ill patients should be cared for by their own kin exclusively. Yet nurses themselves were rather critical in their evaluation of the home care given.