Improving Palliative and End of Life Services

:
Delivering Personalised, Compassionate and Effective Care

Central London

Thursday 7^th March 2019

KEY SPEAKERS

Jutta Widlake
Co Chair
Association of Palliative Care

Andy Shaw
Head of Community Services
St Luke's Hospice Plymouth
Usha Grieve
Director of Partnerships and Information
Compassion in Dying

Event Details  Event Brochure  Website  Register to Attend

End of life care is more important than ever, with deaths expected to rise from 500,000 to 630,000 per year by 2040 (BMC 2017). From 2004 to 2016, deaths in hospital decreased by 10%, with more people choosing to die in hospices, care homes, and personal homes (Public Health England 2018). Additionally, care homes, hospice care and care at home were all rated approximately 10% higher than care at a hospital (ONS 2017). This shift indicates a demand for more choice in care, with people wanting more options for where they want to spend their final days. Despite this, researchers from King’s College London found that only half of local authorities’ Health and Wellbeing Strategies mention end of life care, only 6% prioritise it, and none cite evidence for effective interventions (MBC Medicine 2018).

Over the last decade, there have been a series of key documents and guidelines published that aimed to make improvements to end of life care services. The 2008 Government National Strategy established three areas of improvement in palliative care: people are not dying in their place of choice, the need to prepare for an actively ageing population, and the inconsistency in quality of care. The National Palliative and End of Life Care Partnership added that UK palliative care should also aspire to maximise comfort and wellbeing, better prepare staff to provide competent and compassionate care, and ensure communities are prepared to help (2015). Additionally, IPPR published a report that recommended that the UK government should incentivise the NHS to shift towards primary and community care, and be realistic about the cost of social care.

While these guidelines have aimed to increase the overall quality of palliative care, challenges remain. Issues surrounding funding and a lack of resources contribute to functional issues within the industry. Marie Curie reported that in 32% of hospitals, waiting times are more than a week for transitions to home care, despite the standards recommending maximum waiting periods of 48 hours (2017). Additionally, across all environments, the quality of end of life care that a person receives is affected by a postcode lottery, with research showing a 7% difference in quality of care decrease for those in deprived areas versus affluent areas. Finally, funerals are becoming more expensive, with costs rising at almost twice the rate of UK national wages (SunLife 2017). Change is clearly needed in order to ensure a personalised and compassionate approach to palliative and end of life care.

This symposium will provide a timely opportunity for NHS practitioners, health and social care services, local authorities, professional regulators and voluntary organisations to address these areas for development within palliative care standards and explore how hospitals can ensure every dying person receives high-quality, personalised end of life care.

Delegates Will:

• Review national guidelines and policies and discuss potential strategies for improvement
• Assess ways to overcome reduced budgets and minimal resources
• Discuss how palliative care in hospitals can improve and how to best train healthcare professionals
• Debate how to develop strong partnerships between hospices and hospitals
• Understand the reduced care that lower incomes area receive and discuss how to raise standards
• Determine best practice to ensure a high level of choice for patients
• Examine the financial struggle that can be caused after the death of a relative
• Identify the differences in children’s palliative care and discuss means of achieving top quality care for younger people
• Consider how to best attain patient and family centred care at the end of life
• Develop strategies for creating compassionate communities

To view our brochure, including the full event programme, click here.We would like to advise you that we offer a 20% early registration discount off the standard delegate rates (subject to type of organisation and terms and conditions) for bookings received by the 25th January 2019. Do feel free to circulate this information to relevant colleagues within your organisation.

In the meantime, to ensure your organisation is represented, please book online or complete and return the attached registration form at your earliest convenience in order to secure your delegate place(s).

Kind regards,

Conference Team
Public Policy Exchange
Tel: 020 3137 8630
Fax: 020 3137 1459