QIPP End of Life Care Event Report: Great Practice showcase

Source: National End of Life Care Programme

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Date of publication: April 2012

Publication type: Report

In a nutshell:  Showcasing best practice, this event brought together End of Life Care commissioners, End of Life Care education leads, service managers and clinical practitioners to share learning about the tools available to deliver the QIPP challenge in this sector.  Key learning is summarised and there is an overview of the presentations and links to case studies and marketplace exhibitors.

Length of publication: 15 pages

Communication diary to aid care at the end of life

Source: Nursing Times, 2012, 108, (17), p.24-27

Date of publication: April 2012

Publication type: Article

In a nutshell: This articles describes an action-research study which aimed to develop and test the “Relatives’/carers’ diary” tool from the Liverpool Care pathway.  The tool is aimed at reducing communication barriers between patient’s families or carers and healthcare staff in order to enable relatives to be able to participate usefully in end of life care and for healthcare staff to respond quickly to concerns or issues about all elements of care including pain management, quality of care.

Some important notes: Please contact your local NHS Library for the full text of the article. Follow this link to find your local NHS Library.

Length of publication: 4 pages

Bereaved family members’ assessments of the quality of end-of-life care: what is important?

Source:  Journal of Palliative Care, 01 December 2011, 27, (4), p.261-269

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Date of publication: December 2011

Publication type: Article

In a nutshell: Using qualitative interview data, this study identifies what is important to families of patients who have received end of life care.  The study indicates that care-givers need to distinguish between :

•           perceived substantive or tangible features of received care

•           interpretations of the causes and symbolic meanings of that care

•           personal and affective outcomes

The authors encourage

•           practitioners to develop understanding of how their behaviours are interpreted by families

•           organisations to support improvements in practice and decision making at all levels in order to facilitate better experiences for patients and families.

Length of publication: 9 pages

Some important notes:  Please contact your local NHS Library for the full text of the article. Follow this link to find your local NHS Library

Acknowledgement: Cinahl

National End of Life Care Programme Newsletter November 2011 – Theme: Social Care

Source: National End of Life Care Programme

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Date of publication: November 2011

Publication type: Newsletter

In a nutshell: This edition of the newsletter includes features:   

• Pressing ahead with the social care agenda which is about the progress made in the ’Supporting people to live and die well’ programme
• Meeting the end of life needs of people with MND
• Testing out e-Elca in a large acute Trust

Length of publication: 14 pages

National End of Life Care Programme Newsletter October 2011 – Theme: Acute Care

Source: National End of Life Care Programme

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Date of publication: October 2011

Publication type: Newsletter

In a nutshell: This edition of the monthly newsletter contains articles on:

• Events for Commissioners
• Palliative and end of life rapid discharge pathway
• Spreading end of life care best practice in Acute Trusts
• Improving kidney patients end of life care  

Length of publication: 10 pages

Innovation by example

Source: Nursing Standard, 2011, 25 (37) p22 & 23.

Follow this link for fulltext.  Please note: you will need an NHS Athens password to obtain access to the fulltext.  If you don’t have an NHS Athens account please follow this link to contact your local NHS Library.

Date of publication: May 2011

Publication type: Article

In a nutshell: This article highlights the NHS Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention (QIPP) collection of case studies of nursing initiatives which have significantly improved patient care for patients at the end of their lives.

Length of publication: 2 pages

Acknowledgement: BNI

End of Life Care Quality Assessment Tool (ELCQuA)

Source: The National End of Life Care Intelligence Network team

Follow this link for more information and to register. 

Date of publication: July 2011

Publication type: website

In a nutshell:   This new online tool has been developed by the National End of Life Care Intelligence Network to help commissioners and providers monitor the quality of end of life care (eolc) locally.  Using assessement criteria users can assess their progress in delivering eolc services. Assessment criteria include quality markers from the Department of Health’s End of Life Care Strategy, Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention (QIPP) criteria, end of life care key performance indicators (KPIs) and the Care Quality Commission’s ‘prompts’ for end of life care.

Quality for home palliative care: an Italian metropolitan multicentre JCI-certified model

Source: BMJ Quality and Safety 2011, v. 20 p.592-598

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Date: February 2011

Publication type: Article

In a nutshell: This paper describes the key results of a certification process based on the Joint Commission International (JCI) criteria for the home hospitalisation model implemented by the palliative care units of seven Milan hospitals for terminally ill patients with cancer. The article concludes that work carried out with a view to certification has confirmed the possibility that facilities spread across different hospitals can actually share common processes and standardise the activities for the care of end-of-life patients with cancer at home as if they were one single service provider.

Publication length: 7 pages

Some important notes: An NHS Athens password is required to access this article online. To register for an Athens password, follow this link. Alternatively contact your local health library. Follow this link to find your local health library.

Quality-of-life trajectory of clients and carers referred to a community palliative care service

Source:  International Journal of Palliative Nursing, 2011, 17(2), p. 80-5

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Date of publication:  February 2011

Publication type:  Article

In a nutshell:  This quantitative research in Australia explores the quality of life (QOL) trajectory of community-based palliative care patients and their carers, in order to inform service delivery. Patient QOL scores for physical, existential and psychological well-being, physical symptoms and support, and carer QOL scores relating to positive adaptation, burden, financial concerns and disruptiveness were compared at baseline and follow-up.

Length of publication:  6 pages

 Some important notes:  This article is available in full text to all NHS Staff using Athens, for more information about accessing full text follow this link to find your local NHS Library.

Source:  BNI

Spreading best practice in dementia and end of life care

Source:  Advancing Quality Alliance

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Date of publication:  April 2011

Publication type:  Case Study

In a nutshell:   Led by Greater Manchester and Cheshire Palliative Care Network, this project aims to build on existing end of life care tools such as the Gold Standard Framework and the Liverpool Care Pathway.  The objective is to provide sets of tools that equip GP and out-of-hours providers to make better decisions about end of life care for dementia suffers which will result in the provision of more appropriate care and significant cost savings. 

Length of publication: 2 pages

Exploring the concept of quality care for the person who is dying

Source: British Journal of Community Nursing, 2010, 15(12) p.588-93

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Date of publication: December 2010

Publication type: Article

In a nutshell: This article examines the concept of quality in end of life care and considers the ethical obligations on professional clinical staff to deliver high quality care. Local, regional and national initiatives designed to ensure that consistently high standards are achieved are considered.  Key findings include:

• There is an increasing need to measure quality in terms of the patient experience with less emphasis on performance management.
• The patient experience should be incorporated into service planning and patient care.
• It is essential that health professionals employ high quality communication skills.

Length of publication: 5 pages

Some important notes: This article is available in full text to all NHS Staff using Athens, for more information about accessing full text follow this link to find your local NHS Library

Acknowledgement: MEDLINE

Do nursing homes for older people have the support they need to provide end-of-life care? A mixed methods enquiry in England

Source: Palliative Medicine

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Date of publication: March 2011

Publication type: Article

In a nutshell: This study describes a mixed methods design identifying external influences on the quality of end-of-life care in nursing homes. Two qualitative case studies were conducted and a postal survey of 180 nursing homes surrounding the case study sites. In the case studies, qualitative interviews were held with seven members of nursing home staff and 10 external staff. Problems in accessing support for end-of-life care are reported. Results suggest that  that critical factors in improving end-of-life care in nursing homes include developing clinical leadership, developing relationships with GPs, the support of ‘key’ external advocates and leverage of additional resources by adoption of care pathway tools.

Length of publication: 13 pages

Some important notes: Contact your local health library for a copy of this article. To find you local health library, follow this link.

Talking about End of Life Care: right conversations, right people, right time.

Source:  National End of Life Care Programme

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Date of publication: February 2011

Publication type:  Report

In a nutshell:  This is the final report from the communication skills pilot project which considered communication skills of NHS staff working with patients at the end of life.  Communication skills training need, provision, strategy and sustainability were assessed at 12 sites .  Training needs analysis and existing provision reviewed and benchmarked against national competences and new training plans were then developed.   This report highlights the project’s findings, identifies key messages about why it’s necessary to improve communication skills and makes recommendations about how to proceed.

Length of publication: 35 pages

NHS Evidence QIPP, case study: End of Life Care

Source:  NHS Evidence

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Date of publication:  November 2010

Publication type:  Case Study

In a nutshell:  The objective of this collaborative working between nursing and AHP staff working for Thames Hospicecare, an independent hospice and Berkshire East Community Services was to improve qualified staff competence and confidence in delivering end of life care (EoLC) for patients in a community hospital setting.  

Current emphasis is on providing EoLC in communities rather than the acute setting but this is not always achievable or what the patient wants. Utilising community hospitals can be a more cost-effective option and also enable the local hospice inpatient unit to focus on providing complex care for patients who need it.  The case study explicitly shows the evidence of success in terms of financial and quality of care benefits.

Length of publication:  9 pages