In recent years, a number of shortcomings in the NHS have been identified in end-of-life care delivered in hospital for people with long-term conditions other than terminal cancer. This article gives an overview of the findings of a Dignity in Care travel scholarship, which was undertaken to establish whether an American shared informed decision aid, specifically designed to initiate therapeutic conversations for this patient group, might reasonably be adopted in an NHS setting. One tool specifically for this purpose was in use in the USA at the time, and its efficacy formed part of a broader research study being carried out at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in New England. Concurrently in the UK, The Health Foundation supported a 3-year study that focused exclusively on the development of a range of 'option grids' for clinical interventions and did not include an end-of-life model. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
There is a paucity of cross-national population-based research on hospitalisations of people at the end of life. We aimed to compare, in four European countries, the frequency, time, length of and factors associated with hospitalisations in the last 3 months of life. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
Nigel Hawkes finds out how the nominees for the palliative care award are working to improve care and keep people out of hospital. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
This update follows a joint statement issued in September 2014 when NHS England and PHE announced their plans to work together to test the feasibility of developing a national palliative care clinical dataset. The feasibility work involved a number of pilot sites trialling the dataset and feedback from these sites indicate that the dataset has been beneficial in a number of ways. A full evaluation is now underway and will be published in the summer, alongside the dataset which will be available for local use on a voluntary basis.
The first partnership between charity Marie Curie and a Welsh health board is set to bolster end of life care for people in south Wales. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
Greenwich & Bexley Community Hospice are working with the Oxleas Advanced Dementia Service to improve care for people with advanced dementia. Supported by a grant from the St James Place Foundation, we have seconded a Palliative Care Clinical Nurse Specialist to a new 2 1/2 day a week role specifically supporting people with advanced dementia.
Last month, the British Medical Association (BMA) published its final report into end of life care in the UK. This great film summarizes the issues of talking about dying.
The new one-year Spotlight project, which builds on the foundations of the previous three-year Clinical Priorities programme, will identify best practice in end of life care pathways and aims to work with other professional bodies to ensure this best practice is widely disseminated. The project will also be offering learning and sharing experience to GPs and their practice staff. In 2016 the RCGP will also plans to publish an end of life care position statement which will be tailored to the specific healthcare system in each of the four nations of the UK.
A rapid response service for patients at the end of life has experienced higher than expected demand in its first months.To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
An end of life care service is providing joined-up care for patients. Care co-ordinators arrange packages of care so patients can die in the place of their choice – often at home. The result is high satisfaction rates among patients, families and staff. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
Every palliative care formulary contains equivalence charts for commonly used opioids such as morphine, oxycodone, buprenorphine, and fentanyl, the bedrock of pain control in cancer. Two new studies examined how dosing is applied in clinical practice. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
The BMA launched a major project in November 2014 to examine both the public and medical professionals' attitudes on aspects of end-of-life care and physician-assisted dying.
We wanted to explore:
how the reality, and perceptions, of end of life care compare to models of good practice;
the challenges of providing good care at the end of life; and
the possible impact on the doctor-patient relationship if physician-assisted dying were to be legalised.
An article highlighting challenges and opportunities for researchers working in the area of palliative and end of life care has published in BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, this week.
The commentary piece, by NIHR Senior Investigator Professor Irene Higginson, talks about the importance of the roles of research organisations like the NIHR, in funding leading-edge, needs-led research to improve palliative and end of life care across all disease areas.