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Anticipatory Care to Reduce Readmissions — SCE Palliative Medicine MCQ

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HardNon-Malignant Palliative CareAnticipatory Care to Reduce ReadmissionsSCE Palliative Medicine

An 80-year-old with advanced frailty has six admissions after recurrent predictable crises. Which community intervention most directly addresses the system failure driving repeated reactive care?

Educational content. Not a substitute for clinical judgement or local policy.

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Correct answer: E — Create one accessible crisis plan spanning treatment ceilings medicines and out-of-hours contacts

Explanation lettering: E = shown as A · A = shown as B · D = shown as C · C = shown as D · B = shown as E

B is correct. A useful anticipatory plan identifies likely crises, agreed home treatments, escalation ceilings, anticipatory medicines, decision-makers and out-of-hours contacts, and makes the plan accessible across services. It supports rather than prohibits clinically appropriate admission. Blanket non-conveyance is unsafe, unstructured polypharmacy does not coordinate crises, care-home placement is not an automatic solution and transfer of responsibility does not remove the need for primary-care continuity.

Reference: NICE NG142 end-of-life service delivery recommendations: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng142/chapter/Recommendations