Sharing Current Scottish Practice

Author(s) NHS Highland/Macmillan Team: Alison MacRobbie; Gill Harrington

University of Strathclyde Team: Professor Marion Bennie; Dr Gazala Akram; Emma Dunlop; Dr Rosemary Newham

In 2012, NHS Highland aimed to explore a new service model piloting the development of a full-time Macmillan Rural Palliative Care Pharmacist Practitioner (MRPP). The aims were to develop community pharmacy to support the needs of palliative patients, improve service provision, develop training and peer support opportunities and provide quality information to support practice. Phase 1 explored service gaps and key issues and has previously been published.

Phase 2 aimed to investigate new areas of service, develop evidence-based resources for healthcare professionals and patients, and provide a set of recommendations upon which the service could be developed further. A mixed case study approach was used for evaluation and results were summarised under two key areas; ‘Education, Training and Awareness’ and ‘Integration of the MRPP in the Multi-Professional Team’. Within these areas were included development of a series of training resources, ‘Sunny Sessions’ for Care Home Staff, and mouse mats and mugs containing palliative care prescribing information for healthcare professionals. There was enhanced pharmaceutical presence at multidisciplinary meetings and access to patient medicine information.

For NHS Scotland the evidence from this project presents a clinical practice model for community pharmacy palliative care services in rural areas in line with existing key health policy.

'No decision about me without me’

Author(s): A Todd; A Pringle; S Keir

Introduction: Ensuring patients have as much input as they wish into their care is a fundamental aspect of good medical practice and as such the Department of Health advocates shared-decision making (ISBN: 13:9780101788120). Recent legal rulings highlight the willingness of the public to hold health services to account should they fail in this regard ([2014] EWCA Civ 822).

Aims: To evaluate the introduction of an anticipatory care plan (ACP) form on both the degree of shared decision-making with multi-morbid patients and their families, and the speed at which on-call teams could access this information for timely treatment decisions.

Methods: Via small tests of change, an ACP form was designed that documented four key decisions concerning response to deterioration (figure 1). Central to the form was a box recording date of discussion with the patient or next-of-kin. We measured the frequency of shared decision-making before and after the introduction of the ACP form.

Results: Shared decision-making increased. The time to find all key information significantly reduced informing appropriate response to deterioration.

Conclusion: The introduction of an ACP form encouraged shared decision making and facilitated out-of-hour assessments. The presence of the form provided a forcing function that triggered more discussions.

‘No specialist and no out of hours service!’ – Audit and experience of end of life care in a rural Australian hospital

Author(s): Natasha Freeman

Palliative care provision in Kempsey Hospital consists of a specialist nurse consultancy service, no inpatient or community beds, no afterhours or weekend support and no specialist physician cover. Local GP’s estimate 40% of palliative care patients require end of life care in hospital. We audited end of life care standards for inpatients and surveyed staff opinions on current end of life care practice.

Our patients ranged from 35 – 85 years, and 8% were Indigenous Australians. We showed that less than half of patients had a complete physical assessment of symptoms, had anticipatory medications prescribed and had spiritual needs addressed. Nearly 70% of nurses believed a new end of life care pathway was required and 85% requested more education and support in palliative care practice.

A redesigned end of life care pathway is being introduced to improve standards not currently being met. Our findings highlight the need for developing innovative educational programmes on end of life care for rural nurses, and video conferencing is being explored as a means of delivery. In response to the current lack of specialist service in Kempsey, locally designed and tailored educational programmes are being developed aimed at strengthening current hospital and community expertise.

Patient and family experiences of DNACPR discussions: an integrative review of the literature

Author(s): Dr CC Hall; Dr E Carduff; J Lugton; Dr J Spiller

The aim of this review is to identify patient and family views on the communication of DNACPR decisions based on their experiences of DNACPR discussions. A literature search of multiple databases was performed for (adult) patients, from all countries over the last 10 years. 559 abstracts were identified. After coding and exclusions were applied, 46 relevant full texts were included (9 UK, 37 rest of world). Cultural variations were considered and recurring themes were tabulated.

Themes revealed the importance of DNACPR discussions being held by someone trusted and the importance of family/ carer involvement, as well as perceived concerns about burdening family members. Timing of discussions revealed the difficulty of finding the ‘right time’ to discuss DNACPR. For certain patients earlier is preferable (e.g. in elderly patients while cognition is good) where as cancer patients prefer not to discuss DNACPR close to diagnosis or starting treatment.

Discussions held at home or at the GP surgery were preferable to discussions held during acute admissions to hospital. Content of discussion highlighted the importance of discussing prognosis and quality of life with patients. Also that patients find discussing DNACPR in the context of a wider discussion around treatment escalation options acceptable.

Person Centred Care at the End of Life: Developing a care plan for End of Life Care in a hospice setting

Author(s): Kim Donaldson; Vicky Hill; Duncan Brown

Recognising dying, and caring for people at end of life, is often challenging, uncertain and emotive for all involved1. Striving to ‘get it right’ when you only have one chance is a fundamental attribute of professionals.

Having successfully used the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) to guide the care offered to dying people and their families, St Columba’s Hospice (SCH) appreciated the importance of taking a considered approach in moving forward after the LCP planned phase out in 2014.

A working group critically reviewed the literature and undertook a rigorous consultation with clinical staff, non-clinical staff, volunteers, patients and families to elicit views on what mattered most at the end of life. An openness from colleagues across Lothian to share their work and review the work of SCH was invaluable.

This poster illustrates the development, implementation and initial evaluation of the SCH Person Centred Care at the End of Life document.