Characteristics of the bereaved relatives and HSCPs interviewed in the study
| Characteristics of HSCPs interviewed | n | Characteristics of bereaved relatives interviewed | n |
| Hospital-based professionals | 1 | Gender of participant | |
| Palliative care social worker | 1 | Female | 12 |
| Palliative care consultant | 2 | Male | 7 |
| Palliative care clinical nurse specialist | 1 | ||
| Palliative care team leader (nurse) | 1 | Participant’s relationship to the family member who died | |
| Registered nurse | 1 | Spouse/partner | 4 |
| Healthcare chaplain | 1 | Adult child | 11 |
| Healthcare assistant | 2 | Adult grandchild | 1 |
| Junior doctor | 2 | Son/daughter-in-law | 2 |
| Niece | 1 | ||
| Care home-based professionals | |||
| Registered nurse | 2 | Ethnicity of relative/deceased | |
| Palliative care registered nurse | 1 | White (English/Welsh/Scottish/Northern Irish/British) | 19 |
| Hospice-based professionals | Location of relative/death | ||
| Palliative care clinical nurse specialist | 1 | England | 14 |
| Palliative care consultant | 1 | Scotland | 4 |
| Palliative care nurse | 1 | Wales | 1 |
| Northern Ireland | 0 | ||
| Location of professional | |||
| England | 8 | Place of death | |
| Scotland | 5 | Hospital | 10 |
| Wales | 2 | General ward (n=3) | |
| Northern Ireland | 1 | Intensive care unit (n=4) | |
| Coronavirus ward (n=3) | |||
| Gender of professional | Care home | 9 | |
| Female | 11 | ||
| Male | 5 | Chronic condition of deceased family member | |
| Dementia | 8 | ||
| Ethnicity of professional | Cancer | 4 | |
| White (English/Welsh/Scottish/Northern Irish/British) | 16 | Heart failure | 3 |
| Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) | 2 | ||
| Renal disease | 1 | ||
| None identified | 1 | ||
| Age of participant | |||
| 20–29 | 1 | ||
| 30–39 | 2 | ||
| 40–49 | 1 | ||
| 50–59 | 8 | ||
| 60–69 | 6 | ||
| 70–79 | 1 | ||
| Age of family member who died | |||
| 50–59 | 1 | ||
| 60–69 | 2 | ||
| 70–79 | 2 | ||
| 80–89 | 9 | ||
| 90+ | 3 | ||
| Age of the children | |||
| 0–11 years old | 15 | ||
| 12–18 years old | 9 |
HSCP, health and social care professional.