Emergency department follow-up of bereaved relatives: an audit of one particular service

Parris, Richard; Schlosenberg, J; Stanley, Carol; Maurice, S; Clarke, S.

doi:10.1136/emj.2006.042671

Cited by 15 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Our findings fit with those of Parris et al 4 who described a consultant-led bereavement service for families of patients who died in the emergency department. They had a similar finding of 14% of families taking up the offer of a meeting 4. In this study, they waited 4–6 weeks before sending out the invitation.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 91%

“…The ability to understand how the loss has occurred appears to reduce the risk of a prolonged and abnormal grief reaction in the bereaved. Families who seek support from hospital bereavement services do so because of clinical questions over the diagnosis, investigations, treatment and ‘what if’ scenarios, questions over the death certificate or postmortem, or because of quality of care issues such as issues around communication 4 5…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Simple and powerful: a consultant and governance-led bereavement service

Grimes

Stringer

Roberts-Jones

2019

BMJ Support Palliat Care

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BackgroundFollowing bereavement, families can be left with unanswered questions or issues of concern. We piloted a bereavement service model which was consultant and governance-led with the aim to reduce complaints, reduce litigation, reduce coroners' inquests and support families.MethodsFollowing the death of a patient, the next of kin was sent an invitation. Those that responded were offered a 1-hour appointment with a consultant, senior sister and a member of the governance team. Notes were taken to track themes and feedback sheets were introduced to gauge the usefulness of the service to families.ResultsOf 121 invitations sent out, 18 families (14.8%) used the service. Two families had already sought legal advice. Neither acted further. 44% said they would have made a complaint if the service had not been available. 78% stated that they had obtained closure.ConclusionA bereavement service model which is consultant and governance led may reduce complaints and reduce litigation.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simple and powerful: a consultant and governance-led bereavement service

Grimes

Stringer

Roberts-Jones

2019

BMJ Support Palliat Care

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“…An ED that routinely writes to relatives offering a meeting with a Consultant to discuss factual issues concerning the death audited their service in 2007 (Parris et al, 2007). They found that 14% of bereaved relatives replied to take up the offer and 27% replied declining the offer (the 14% acceptance rate is similar to the 11% acceptance rate found by the Australian study discussed above).…”

Section: Follow-up For the Bereavedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Initial management of bereaved relatives following trauma

Parris

2011

Trauma

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Emergency department (ED) staff confront death more frequently than any other specialty except oncology. These deaths are often traumatic, sudden, unexpected and occur in a younger age group. As a consequence, bereaved survivors have a greater risk of an abnormal grief reaction. [Walters DT, Tupin JP (1991) Family grief in the emergency department. Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America 9(1): 189-206.] Whilst the severity or timing of traumatic injuries may preclude medical attempts to influence patient survival, the approach of the same resuscitation team to the bereaved before death, during resuscitation and after death may have profound influences on subsequent grief in the bereaved. Despite this, it can be argued that Emergency Medicine within the UK has given little thought and time for reflection upon how we treat the bereaved. That the care of the dying and the bereaved within the ED matters is greatly reinforced by the Scottish Government's 2010 Consultation document on bereavement that states: 'There is . . . evidence that the way [the] bereaved experience events around the time of death will influence their grief. Where health services get it right . . . bereaved people are supported to accept the death . . . Conversely if the health services get it wrong, then bereaved people may experience additional distress, and that distress will interfere with their successful transition through the grieving process'.

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“…16 Eleven articles surveyed families, friends, or survivors of an accident that killed the patient. 2,3,[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33] Six articles surveyed health professionals on death notification practices. 22,[34][35][36][37][38] There was one chart audit, 39 and there were 29 review articles describing notification in the emergency department and hospital.…”

Section: Measurement and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%