The road ahead – National Council for Palliative Care Strategy 2015-2018

Source: NCPC

Follow this link for the strategy

Date of publication: May 2015

Publication type: Strategy document

In a nutshell: NCPC has published its official strategy for 2015-18

The new strategy has been agreed by NCPC’s Board of Trustees and affirms their vision for palliative and end of life care, demonstrates how they can play an important role in shaping  the future, and sets out the areas in which they will work to achieve these goals.

The Strategy highlights four priority areas of work:

• Changing attitudes
• Changing behaviour
• Improving Care and Support
• Improving Evidence and Intelligence

Length of publication: 7 pages

 

End of Life Care: Fifth report of Session 2014-15

Source: House of Commons Health Committee

Follow this link for the full report

Date of publication: March 2015

Publication type: Parliamentary report

In a nutshell: This report looks at the state of End of Life Care since the Independent Review of the Liverpool Care Pathway. This report makes a number of recommendations for improvement.

Length of publication: 54p.

 

What’s important to me: a review of choice in end of life care

Source: Choice in End of Life Care Programme Board

Follow this link for the full report

Date of publication: February 2015

Publication type: Report

In a nutshell: The independently led Review of Choice in End of Life Care has provided advice to Government which includes: establishing a ‘national choice offer’ focused on individual’s end of life care needs by April 2020; providing an additional £130 million funding for end of life health and social care services; establishing 24/7 community end of life care by 2019 in all areas implementing shared electronic end of life care records by April 2018 in all areas; and a named responsible senior clinician for all people approaching the end of life.

Length of publication: 72p.

 

 

 

Wirral end of life care charter: why I believe in it

Source: ehospice.com

Follow this link for the webpage

Date of publication: March 2015

Publication type: Website

In a nutshell: The new Wirral end of life care charter launches on 20 May, during Dying Matters Week 2015. Its 12 expectations seek to help everyone understand that help is available for them to have the best quality of life possible, for as long as possible, and their personal choices drive their care plan.

Length of publication: 1 page

 

NHS Borders and Marie Curie announce palliative care improvement project

Source: Marie Cure Cancer Care

Follow this link for the website

Date of publication: December 2014

Publication type: News article

In a nutshell: The Scottish Borders Palliative care needs assessment project is a six month project which will involve:

• an analysis of current service arrangements to inform future changes.
• talking to service users and providers to find out what works and what could be improved on.
• looking at population and disease statistics and projections for the local area to assess current and future needs.
• a review of recent evidence of good practice in providing care and support for terminally ill people and their families.

 

 

 

Hospital receives international recognition for palliative care training

Source: Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust

Follow this link for the website

Date of publication: December 2013

Publication type: News article

In a nutshell: Good Hope Hospital has received international acclaim for its innovative training for staff providing end of life care to patients.  Consultant in Palliative Care, Dr Lisa Boulstridge, and the simulation centre team have worked together over the last four years to develop training which uses sophisticated mannequin technology to create life-like scenarios for clinical staff to react to. This enables teams and individuals to develop and test their clinical skills in a safe and fully supported learning environment. Since its launch, the training has been taken up by hospital doctors and nurses; GP trainees and specialist palliative care teams working in hospices and community settings.

Length of publication:  1 page

Fitting the pieces together with the AMBER care bundle

Source: National End of Life Care Programme

Follow this link for the website

Date of publication: December 2012

Publication type: Website

In a nutshell: The Amber Care Bundle is a simple tool which combines identification questions, four clinical interventions and systematic monitoring that can be applied in adult ward settings. It has been used in seventeen hospitals in the English NHS with a wider network which is committed to implement AMBER care bundle in their hospitals. This article looks at the rollout of Amber Care Bundle at Worcester Acute Hospitals.

Length of publication: 1 page

Living and Dying Well – Progress Report – NHS Boards

Source: Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care

Follow this link to download progress report

Date of publication: June 2012

Publication type: Progess report

In a nutshell: This report is a national overview on the implementation of Living and Dying Well: a national action plan for palliative and end of life care which has been compiled by Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care (SPPC) on behalf of the Living and Dying Well National Advisory Group. A number of the key actions which Living and Dying Well identified for NHS Boards have either been fully or nearly achieved on a consistent basis across Scotland. Whilst many key actions have yet to be achieved consistently there is evidence of progress and examples of innovation and good practice in Boards.  The report reinforces the need for focus on areas previously identified as priorities for implementation:-

• Early identification of patients who may need palliative care

• Advance/anticipatory care planning

• Palliative and end of life care in acute hospitals

• Electronic palliative care summary (ePCS)

• Do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation (DNACPR)

Length of publication:48 pages

The working of an integrated community palliative care team

Source: BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care

Follow this link for the web article

Date of publication: May 2012

Publication type: Website

In a nutshell: The authors give an insight into the working of an integrated community palliative care team at St. Catherine’s Hospice Preston.

Hospitals ‘failing to deliver’ appropriate end-of-life care to dementia patients

Source: NursingTimes.net

Follow this link for the full-text

Date of publication: April 2012

Publication type: Website

In a nutshell: Researchers at Manchester Royal Infirmary tracked the experiences of 32 patients with dementia who were admitted from nursing or care homes and died in the hospital over a 12 month period. They investigated whether the national Gold Standards Framework (GSF) for end of life care was useful in predicting death and whether tools such as advanced care planning or treatment pathways were used. The authors concluded that while two thirds of the patients demonstrated characteristics of end stage dementia, the GSF was not accurate in predicting death.

Length of publication: 1 page

Giving end of life care environments a makeover

Source:Nursing Management (UK)  Vol.18(7) p16-21

Follow this link for the full text article

Date of publication: November 2011

Publication type: Article

In a nutshell: Transforming health care environments for terminally-ill patients. The implementation of the King’s Fund’s Enhancing the Healing Environment (EHE )Environments for Care at End of Life programme at 20 NHS organisations is outlined, and a project by Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust to create a dedicated space for the families of palliative care patients at the Wansbeck Hospital site is described.

Lenght 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

A narrative literature review of the evidence regarding the economic impact of avoidable hospitalizations amongst palliative care patients in the UK

Source: Progress in Palliative Care 2011 v.19(6), p291-8

Follow this link for article abstract

Date of publication: November 2011

Publication type: Article

In a nutshell: This article carries out a  narrative review of the evidence relating to the potential economic impact of reducing avoidable admissions among palliative care patients in the UK. The article concludes that the evidence base from the UK relating to the economic impact of avoidable admissions in palliative care is limited. Although two recent retrospective studies suggest that there are currently high levels of avoidable admissions, the feasibility of avoiding such admissions and the full economic consequences of such changes have not been clearly demonstrated. Further evidence is needed to provide a more robust estimate of the extent to which the additional costs of providing high-quality community support are offset by reduced inpatient usage by palliative care patients.

Length of publication: 8 pages

Some important notes: Contact your local health library for a copy of this article. Follow this link to find your local health library.

Palliative care outsourced to the voluntary sector at two trusts

Source: The Guardian

Follow this link for the full news article

Date: July 2011

Publication type: Web article

In a nutshell: This article discusses the transfer of specialist palliative care services to charities from 2 NHS trusts. The drive to outsource palliative care comes from the Department of Health’s transforming community services programme, which in 2009 instructed primary care trusts to stop directly providing services. While some PCTs opted to transfer responsibility for palliative care to foundation trusts or community foundation trusts, Rotherham and Berkshire West outsourced to the voluntary sector.

Training aimed at complex needs

Source: Nursing Standard 2011, vol.25(35), p62-3

Follow this link for the full text article

Date: May 2011

Publication type: Article

Publication length: 2 pages

In a nutshell: This article describes the work of the charity Demelza in providing family-orientated hospice care for children with life-limiting illnesses and their families in Kent, East Sussex and south east London. The work of nurses in the community palliative teams who provide care for children at home is also highlighted.

Some important notes: An NHS Athens password is required to access this article online. Follow this link to register for an Athens password.