Latest news from SPPC

Living and Dying Well Update

This page provides an update (as at July 2011) on the implementation of the Scottish Government’s action plan on palliative and end of life care Living and Dying Well. It gives information about work at national level, but does not cover all the work going on at local level across Scotland.

National Measures of Quality

A group being chaired by Dr David Oxenham has met twice and is aiming to complete its work in the autumn. The Group is attempting to identify measures which will provide (at NHS Board and national level) evidence of change within the health and social care system which is indicative of improved outcomes for patients with palliative and end of life care needs and their families. It is intended that as many as possible of the measures will work across settings and for different demographics. This is to be achieved within existing resources.

Policy on the resuscitation of adults (DNACPR)

A small number of candidate measures to support audit of the new policy have been identified and a slightly revised version of these will be consulted upon more widely.

Public Information on Palliative Care

Content to be hosted on the NHS Inform website has been developed by SLWG4. NHS Inform are currently developing the area ready for hosting.

Clinical Guidelines

Living and Dying Well said that all NHS Boards should have guidelines available on 30 core topics and should collaborate to ensure that this happened. All NHS Boards will have the opportunity to participate in a collaborative which will review and development of the guidelines previously developed in a collaboration led by NHS Lothian.

Palliative Care DES

A revised version of the DES has been produced which will provide richer data on palliative care in primary care settings. This will be introduced from April 2012.

The Electronic Palliative Care Summary (ePCS)

Dr Libby Morris is now the eHealth Lead for this project.

Alliance to Promote More Open Discussion of Death Dying and Bereavement

This new alliance will launch in the autumn of 2011.

NHS Board Reporting Template

It is understood that a reporting template for NHS Boards is to be issued during the summer. This template will allow the Living and Dying Well National Advisory Group to ascertain a baseline of progress against the areas for action and also to identify areas requiring further support. Broadly speaking this template will seek information about plans, processes and structures, whilst the national measures of quality (see above) will focus on outcomes and be integrated into the template at a later stage.

Commissioning of Hospice Services

The Scottish Government is revising the guidance to NHS Boards (HDL 2003 18).

Advance / Anticipatory Care Planning

The recent round of Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care meetings included presentations, updates and problem solving on the implementation of ACP across six health board areas.

Support by NES

The third and final stage of the longitudinal ACP Facilitator training evaluation is in progress with the final report from Inspire Research due in June. It is anticipated that the final recommendations will provide feedback on the effectiveness of the train the trainer approach and offer suggestions for ongoing facilitator support.

The new web based ACP toolkit is now available via the NES website at www.palliativecareinpractice.nes.scot.nhs.uk

A new online WBL resource Principles of Palliative and End of Life Care is also be available at www.palliativecareinpractice.nes.scot.nhs.uk

Both these online resources have been piloted with a range of practitioners. Information on how to access and use the resources is now being widely disseminated.

NES’s Communication and Human Relationships work stream (in collaboration with Long Term Conditions)

- 2010-11 projects: Two of the six NES supported projects have submitted final reports with the remaining four due at the end of June 2011. A summary of the final reports will be made available via the palliative education Managed Knowledge Network (MKN) www.knowledge.scot.nhs.uk/palliativeeducation

- Evaluation of the impact of NES supported projects: The report identified a number of recommendations which are currently being considered. An executive summary of the key findings of the evaluation will be made available via the palliative care MKN

- The report on the scoping exercise undertaken by Create Consultancy to identify how healthcare professionals develop their communication skills, attitudes and behaviours will be made available via the palliative education MKN

- A new web based resource to be entitled Communicating, Connecting, Caring is currently under construction with an anticipated completion date of September 2011. The site will offer healthcare workers, managers, supervisors and educator’s information and resources to support the development of communication and relationship skills and behaviours.

- Funding has been made available to support the wider implementation of the CARE measure and a Practice Based Small Group Learning Module (Sensitive conversations at the end of life: Learning from each other using PBSGL methodology). Applications for funding for these initiatives have been invited.

Palliative Care in Acute Settings

In collaboration with the Living and Dying Well Short Life Working Group 5 and Consultant Medical Staff an online publication aimed at raising awareness of examples of good practice in palliative and end of life care in acute hospitals has been developed by NES and will be widely circulated in the coming months. Copies of the document will be made available via the palliative education MKN

Improving Palliative Care in Care Homes

The Steering Group is currently putting together a signposting resource on palliative care for providers.

Palliative Care for Children and Young People

A Health Care Strategy for Palliative Care for Children and Young People has been produced by SCYPPCEx and is currently out for consultation.

NES supported the Scottish Children and Young People Palliative Care Executive Group (SCYPPEx) to deliver a train the trainer event and to develop a DVD and other resources to support the implementation of the Children and Young People Acute Deterioration Policy. The DVD has been circulated to the trainers who attended the train the trainer event. In addition, recorded materials from the train the trainer event will be made available via a direct link on the Children and Young People’s MKN http://www.knowledge.scot.nhs.uk/child-services/help.aspx

Other Educational Support Work by NES

Practice Based Small Group Learning Module (PBSGL)

This unit of learning was developed by PBSGL Scotland as part of the communication and human relationships education and training projects. This unit is now available for use with General Practice teams and it focuses on End of Life Care practice and difficult conversations.

Higher Education Institute (HEI) Engagement

A second event to explore approaches to support the integration and embedding of palliative and end of life care education in undergraduate and post graduate programmes for nurses and allied health professionals has been proposed to HEI’s in Scotland.

Department of Health e-End of Life Care for All education (e-ELCA) programme

Access to this programme is now available to NHS Scotland staff. Information on how to access the programme had been circulated to all NHS Board Palliative care Executive Leads, Living and Dying Well Board Education Champions and the Scottish Government.

 

A beginner’s guide to successful palliative care research

The Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care has published basic guidance for health and social care professionals on how to begin to engage in palliative care research.

Click here to view the guidance.

Annual Conference 2011 - Speakers

Conference speakers

Dr Alejandro R. Jadad, MD DPhil FRCPC FCHAS

Dr. Jadad holds the Canada Research Chair in eHealth Innovation at the University of Toronto and the University Health Network, where he is the Chief Innovator and Founder of the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation. He is also a Professor in the Department of Anesthesia, in the Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, and in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto.

He is a physician, innovator, educator and public advocate whose mission is to optimise health and wellness for all, thorough the innovative use of information and communication technologies.

His research and innovation work focuses on virtual tools to support the encounter between the public and the health system (with emphasis on the management of polypathologies); interactive tools to promote knowledge translation and mentorship of health professionals and the public; and online resources to support social networks, to respond to major public health threats (e.g., chronic conditions, pandemics), to support international collaboration, and to enable the public (particularly young people) to shape the health system and society.

Professor Phil Hanlon

Phil Hanlon was educated in the West of Scotland and graduated in medicine from Glasgow University in 1978.

Following a period when he gained clinical experience in adult medicine and general practice, he took up a research post with the Medical Research Council in the Gambia, West Africa. On returning to the UK he completed a period of training in public health after which he was appointed to the post of Director of Health Promotion with The Greater Glasgow Health Board. In 1994 Phil moved to become a Senior Lecturer in Public Health at the University of Glasgow and was promoted to Professor in 1999. Between January 2001 and April 2003 Phil undertook a secondment to establish the Public Health Institute of Scotland.

Current research interest include ‘culture and health’, uses of integrated public health data and evaluation of complex public health interventions.

Professor Julian C Hughes

Julian C. Hughes is a Consultant in Old Age Psychiatry in Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and an Honorary Professor of Philosophy of Ageing at the Institute for Ageing and Health, Newcastle University. He has studied Philosophy at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. His writings and research focus on philosophical and ethical issues raised in connection with ageing and dementia. He has a particular interest in palliative care in dementia. He has advised, chaired or served on committees or working parties of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, NICE and the Nuffield Council on Bioethics. Edited, co-edited or co-authored books include: Dementia: Mind, Meaning, and the Person (OUP, 2006), Palliative Care in Severe Dementia (Quay Books, 2006), Ethical Issues in Dementia Care: Making Difficult Decisions (Jessica Kingsley, 2006), Supportive Care for the Person with Dementia (OUP, 2010). In February 2011, his book, Thinking Through Dementia (OUP), was published. And a new book, Alzheimer’s and Other Dementias: The Facts, is also scheduled to be published by Oxford University Press in September 2011.

Dr Hilary Pinnock, MB ChB, MRCGP, MD

Dr Hilary Pinnock is a Senior Clinical Research Fellow with the Allergy and Respiratory Research Group, Centre for Population Health Sciences: GP Section, University of Edinburgh where she is supported by a Primary Care Research Career Award from the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government. She is also a Principal in General Practice, at the Whitstable Medical Practice, Kent.

Her research interests focus on:

- The delivery of respiratory care within the ‘real-life’ primary care setting including evaluating telephone reviews for asthma, and tele-monitoring of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
- The palliative care needs of people with COPD.
- The role of GPs with a Special Interest and the organisation of respiratory care
- The impact of IT on the consultation

She is co-lead of the education subgroup of the International Primary Care Respiratory Group, and is actively involved in the education programme of the Primary Care Respiratory Society UK. She chairs the self-management evidence review group of the BTS SIGN asthma guideline, and is a member of the acute External Reference Group for the English COPD National Clinical Strategy.

The Hearts and Minds Elderflowers

The Hearts & Minds Elderflowers programme uses the performing arts to address and overcome challenges in communicating and engaging with elderly people who are affected by dementia. Elderflowers practitioners are professional performers who are trained to work with vulnerable people in a health care environment. They use the performing arts as a starting point for verbal and non-verbal communication and aim to improve the quality of life and well-being of those in dementia care. The strength of the unique Elderflowers family concept is the provision of a safe environment for exploring a variety of themes as well as emotions. (Photograph by Colin Dixon.)

Alison Blair

Alison is Activities Co-ordinator at the Children's Hospice Association Scotland (CHAS). She is a qualified Play Specialist with 15 years experience of working within Rachel House Children’s Hospice. As the Activities Coordinator she is also part of the Family Support Team who offer emotional support to children, young people and their families’ pre and post bereavement. However her main field of responsibility is leading a small team in providing a range of activities, outings and programme of events for families at Rachel House. Alison has a particular interest in working with Young Adults and serves as an advocate on CHAS’s Young Adult Council which informs CHAS and the wider community of the needs and aspirations of Young people living with a life limiting condition.

Adrienne Betteley BSc (Hons) Specialist Practitioner, RN (adult), Dip H.E

Adrienne is Palliative and End of Life Care Programme Manager for Macmillan Cancer Support, which is a UK wide role and she commenced in post in January 2011. Prior to this Adrienne worked in the NHS for 16 years primarily as a nurse, where she has worked in a variety of sectors, including care homes, acute medicine in a District General Hospital, however most of her clinical time was spent working as a District Nursing Sister in Cheshire.

Adrienne has also worked as a programme lead for End of life Care for NHS North West and Merseyside and Cheshire Cancer Network. She has been a member of the national team for Preferred Priorities for Care (formerly known as Preferred Place of Care) since 2006. Adrienne has also been proactive within the Royal College of Nursing both as a former North West Board member and a member of the Palliative Care Forum Steering Committee.

In her spare time Adrienne is a Trustee at St. Luke’s Cheshire Hospice. She also enjoys travel, reading, walking her 15 ½ stone Old English Mastif and fly fishing.

Dr Jeremy Keen

Dr Jeremy Keen is the Consultant Physician in Palliative Care at the Highland Hospice and has been a Consultant in Palliative Medicine for over 10 years having trained in Edinburgh and Canada. He moved from Edinburgh to Inverness in 2002.

Dr David Oxenham

Dr David Oxenham trained in palliative medicine in Edinburgh after experience in general medicine, general practice and oncology. He has worked as a consultant in hospices in Lanarkshire and New Zealand before returning to Edinburgh in 2001. He is Medical Director of the Marie Curie Hospice, Clinical Lead for Palliative Medicine for NHS Lothian and a member of council for the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care. David is passionately committed to ensuring that as many people as possible benefit from palliative care and receives care that is right for them at the end of life.

Ros Scott

Qualifying originally as a radiographer Ros is Director of Organisational Development with CHAS. She has responsibility for Human Resources, Voluntary Services, Learning and Development and is project managing Young Adult Care Partnerships and Research. Ros has a particular interest in young adults with life-limiting conditions and transition. She also has a background in research, writing and publication and was co-editor of the recently published “Volunteers in Hospice and Palliative Care”. Ros is to chair a committee looking at the future of hospice volunteering in UK, and is researching the Impact of Volunteering on Hospice Sustainability as part of her Doctorate at Dundee University.

Janet Trundle

Janet is Macmillan Specialist Pharmacist in Palliative Care in NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, having previously worked in community pharmacy, in acute hospitals as a clinical pharmacist, and in primary care as a prescribing adviser. Janet’s role is across all sectors of care with a mix of strategic, leadership and clinical roles. Whilst maintaining a specialist palliative care remit in several small hospices, the majority of the clinical advice Janet provides is to community teams, including those in the remote and rural areas of Argyll & Bute in NHS Highland.

Additionally, Janet currently leads a 3-year project funded by Macmillan Cancer Support to implement the recommendations from a Pharmaceutical Palliative Care Health Needs Assessment. Supported by four part-time Macmillan pharmacist facilitators and a project administrator, the project is testing the ability of a new model within community pharmacy palliative care provision to support the increasing number of patients in the community with palliative care needs, and their carers.

Palliative care is everybody's business

The Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care has published a report of its 2010 Annual Conference

To view the report, please click here.