Sally Lawton and colleagues explain how a project in north east Scotland has highlighted the important role staff have to play in the provision of palliative care
The implementation of a palliative and supportive care plan across community hospitals in the Grampian region of north east Scotland provided an opportunity to confirm the important role staff play in palliative and end of life care. Contact was made with the senior nurse in all 32 wards in the community hospitals and a series of monthly visits arranged. This ensured a staged introduction to the plan to facilitate understanding and implementation. Reviews were collated on 130 deaths (77% of all the deaths during the project). These revealed examples of good practice, as well as the challenges faced by staff working in community hospitals. The results show that staff are often involved in the delivery of palliative care and demonstrate the benefits of providing end of life care to people close to home. The earlier identification of the palliative phase of an illness may encourage further anticipatory care planning.
Primary Health Care. 25, 8, 18-23. doi: 10.7748/phc.25.8.18.e993
Correspondence Peer reviewThis article has been subject to double-blind review and checked using antiplagiarism software
Conflict of interestNone declared
Received: 17 November 2014
Accepted: 22 December 2014
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