Rise in use of care pathways at home
A snapshot survey of end of life care provision in GP practices confirms the increasing use of end of life tools but also picks up areas for improvement. Commissioned by the National End of Life Care Programme and overseen by Omega, the National Association for End of Life Care, the survey examined figures from 502 GP practices drawn from across England. Practices used an online version of an improvement tool called After Death Analysis to provide anonymous information about all deaths in February and March 2009.
Among the most significant findings were that 60% of patients on the palliative care register who died at home had their care co-ordinated
using a care pathway and 74% of patients on the palliative care register had a key worker. While many practices said they had or were making changes as a result of participating in the survey, the report did identify areas for improvement. These include the need to improve early identification of patients in the last year or so of life - especially those with diagnoses other than cancer - and talking to patients and families about advance care planning.
‘This is a very valuable piece of work that shows us there are positive changes happening at a local level,’ said Claire Henry, Director of the National End of Life Care Programme. ‘This should act as a catalyst for further improvements in end of life care and we would encourage all primary care trusts to use an audit tool.’
Tom Memery, development director of Omega and the audit lead, said Omega was dedicated to supporting those working in the community to improve end of life care. ‘Repeating this review will help us to identify the pace of change. Measurement is the first step to monitoring improvement.’
From NHS National End of Life Care Programme Newsletter, Issue 18 February 2010. To view the full newsletter in PDF format, click here.
For more information on the snapshot, and to view results, click here.
