New partnership to improve end of life care for local people

Staff from the NHS, Rochdale Borough Council and Springhill Hospice have committed to working more closely together to improve end of life care

Frontline health and social care staff have launched a new partnership to improve how they coordinate care to people who are nearing the end of life, as part of Dying Matters Awareness Week this week.

GPs, nurses, consultants, social workers and mental health practitioners attended the event last week at Rochdale Leisure Centre, to learn about a new initiative where people who are nearing the end of life will be allocated a Care Coordinator who will support and look after them, as well as their carer and family members.

The Care Coordinator could be any type of health or social care professional, depending on what the patient needs, for example a District Nurse, GP or Social Worker. There are usually a large number of different services who become involved in caring for someone during the end of life stage, so the Care Coordinator will play an essential role in ensuring all of the patient’s needs are met by managing what care they need.

A robust training programme is underway to train the borough’s frontline staff on end of life care and how to become a Care Coordinator. Around 70 staff have completed the training to date, with plans to train up to 600. It is hoped that by training more staff in the community, patients will be less likely to end up in hospital and can die peacefully at their preferred place.

Dr Tony Dysart, a Heywood GP and lead for end of life care at NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “As a local GP, I recognise the high quality services we have for people approaching the end of their life and believe the role of the care coordinator will further improve the experiences of our patients across the borough.

“The role will ensure patients, carers and families have the support and care they need at each stage of their journey and have a named professional who they can contact should they need to.”

Janice Sedgwick, Lead Cancer and Palliative Care Nurse for Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The experience of patients and carers at this crucial point in their life can having a lasting impact both physically and emotionally, so it is vital that the local services are as seamless and coordinated as possible. By providing a named Care Coordinator, we will be able to provide high quality, personal care, whilst streamlining the number of services a patient or their family has to deal with on a day to day basis.”

Jean Hornby, portfolio holder for Adult Care at Rochdale Borough Council attended the meeting, she said: “This partnership will ensure that people who are in need of end of life care receive the very best attention from all strands of the service. For both patients and their loved ones it is essential that processes put in place are geared towards making an often difficult and emotional time as trouble free as possible.”

Alice Davies, Macmillan Associate Lead Cancer and Palliative Care Nurse for The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “The provision of a care coordinator will ensure patients and carers are aware of a key individual to contact, rather than having a long list of professionals and feeling confused as who to approach for what. This will ensure care is coordinated ensuring patients and carers wishes and preferences at the end of life are more widely recognised. This will then be communicated to all professionals and partner agencies involved. This will help to ensure that appropriate support and information is provided for patients and families during this time.”

The partnership includes NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Clinical Commissioning Group, Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, the Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, Rochdale Borough Council and Springhill Hospice.

Case study

Attending the event on Tuesday (14 May) was Susan Barrett, whose mother Doris Newton received end of life care at Springhill Resource Centre over Christmas last year when it became apparent she was reaching the end of her life.

Doris, who was 79 and had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease and had originally arrived at Springhill in early December for assessment after being discharged from hospital, where she had been since becoming ill after a period of being generally unwell having breathing problems, chest pains and not eating or drinking at home.

In mid-December she was readmitted to hospital for five days but was then discharged. Springhill RC does not normally provide end of life care but, after discussions with doctors, district nurses and family members, the centre welcomed Doris back to spend her last days in the care of centre staff.

Staff arranged for Doris’s husband, who had been her main carer, to stay at her bedside, providing support to him and other family members .

They also arranged for the local GP to visit on Christmas Eve who ensured necessary arrangements were put in place so if Doris passed away during the Christmas period that she could be taken to the chapel of rest without police involvement.

Doris died on Christmas morning and to ensure her family could begin mourning her death in peace, the Senior Team Leader on duty at Springhill dealt directly with doctors and undertakers on behalf of the family.

Mrs Barrett said she will never forget the dignity afforded her mother in her last days: “The care, compassion and respect shown during my mum’s stay was nothing short of remarkable. Nothing was ever too much trouble for the Springhill team and I cannot express my gratitude enough to everyone involved.

“I feel honoured that my mum spent her last week’s being cared for by such considerate people, which is why I think partnerships such as the one we are here to officially launch are so important to people generally.”