End of Life: Palliative Care Training for Providers of Care

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End of Life: Palliative Care Training for Providers of Care

Project Summary

The care received at the end of life should be sensitive and comprehensive in meeting patients’ needs and choices. Many patients being cared for in Care Homes find that their last days or hours are spent in hospital instead of a place of their choice. This 18-month joint project with Norfolk County Council aimed to improve the provision of end of life and palliative care by care providers in order to reduce inappropriate hospital admission of patients in the last days or hours of their life.

The project has provided the following training in the required skills and competencies.

1. GPs providing end of life support to patients were able to attend a training course or a training day focussed on palliative care.
2. Every care home and domiciliary care agency has been provided with a generic palliative care training manual. Senior Staff in each care home/provider of care are responsible for cascading the training all staff, and they are being supported by the community teams in this.
3. 350 care home staff who specialise in palliative and dementia care have attended the “Links 2 Learning in Palliative Care” and “End of Life Care for Patients with Dementia” courses
4. Bursaries have been provided to senior staff towards further and advanced palliative care training.
5. A programme of training in the Gold Standards Framework (GSF) for end of life care is being attended by 40 care homes, with funding support by the project.
6. The project is supporting the Age UK Pabulum Blue Book for an additional year.
7. Advanced Communications training is being provided for Community Matrons.

Additional Information

Sponsoring Organisations

• NHS Norfolk
• NHS Great Yarmouth & Waveney
• Norfolk County Council

Timeframe

• Commence date: Feb 2010
• End Date: March 2011

Contact: Steve Gledhill 01603 257282