End of Life Care
Programme launched at House of Commons
A £4.5 million programme to improve End of Life Care has been launched by the Charity at an event hosted by the Rt. Hon. Frank Field MP.
The End of Life Care - Modernisation Initiative aims to help people die with dignity in a place of their choosing, to provide for those living with dementia at the end of their lives and to open up discussions among carers about planning for death, building on best practice from palliative care providers and hospices.
More than 140 representatives from the acute, care home, primary care and community health sectors, as well as charities working with older people and academics working in the field, attended the launch.
Find out what the keynote speakers had to say »
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The Charity initiated the programme following interviews with individuals and workshops with health and social care staff and care home employees in Southwark and Lambeth. Participants felt that despite organisations’ aspirations to offer the best care, services could be better co-ordinated across the providers and that people could be better consulted about where and how they want to die – outcomes which echo existing evidence from government and local health organisations.
Over the next three years the End of Life Care team, led by Dr Jayne Chidgey-Clark, Programme Director, will work with health and care professionals and people with end of life care needs and their carers to develop standards which take into account the particular needs of the diverse population living in the two boroughs. The Modernisation Initiative approach will involve giving people who know they are dying, their families and carers, and those who will need services in the future, a voice in the improvements, and their involvement will be integral to the programme.
The programme builds on existing and ongoing research, notably work being undertaken by Irene Higginson, OBE, Professor of Palliative care at King’s College London. Professor Mike Richards, CBE, National Clinical Director of Cancer and lead on the national End of Life Care Strategy has also welcomed the Charity’s programme, which may help inform the government’s commitment to improving end of life care.
The team will link with other organisations working in the field, such as the Marie Curie Delivering Choice project for South East London and researchers at King’s College London, and the three year venture is being supported by the Charitable Funds of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College Hospital Charity. It follows on from the Charity's existing Modernisation Initiative which has already radically transformed kidney disease, stroke and sexual health services in Lambeth and Southwark with funding of £15 million.
(L-r) Dr Jayne Chidgey-Clark, End of Life Care Programme Director, Ted Bassey,
who spoke about his brother's decision to opt for conservative management at the
end of his life, Geoffrey Shepherd, Charity Chief Executive,
and guest speaker Sheila Hancock, OBE
The Charity has already awarded grants to help support research into end of life care and to support local hospices, more here »