O-19 Co-designing a career development and progression framework for palliative and end of life care

Abstract

Methods A K&M Hospice Group was formed to gather data from years 2019-2022, which demonstrated cost and activity. The group pursued focussed communication with the CCG leadership team, ensuring ongoing feedback to keep hospice funding as a priority. Results £1m of additional funding for 2022/3 was achieved for the group and a commitment from the CCG to working to set out a road map for increased, sustainable funding for 23/24 onwards. This enabled each hospice to better manage increased cost pressures during 2022/23 reducing any draw downs on their reserves. Conclusions Collaboration was key to this project, with all hospices speaking with one expert voice. Building strong relationships with senior CCG leaders was crucial and resilience was needed during periods of disengagement. Working together we were able to pool evidence with data demonstrating the value of hospice services, the wide range of services offered and the impact of these services on reducing inappropriate acute hospital admissions. How innovative or of interest is the abstract? Sustainable funding has been identified as a key priority for hospices, and COVID-19 highlighted the risks associated with funding essential services via a voluntary model. Despite this, many hospices have reported difficulties in getting commissioners to engage in meaningful discussion. It is hoped this project will provide a template for other hospices to replicate the successful collaboration that was achieved in Kent & Medway.

‘That just doesn’t feel right at times’ – lone working practices, support and educational needs of newly employed Healthcare Assistants providing 24/7 palliative care in the community: A qualitative interview study

“…As highlighted by the Francis report, 73 lack of appropriate role preparation, ongoing training and support raise questions on the quality of care provided. Development and implementation of competency standards to support role preparation of healthcare assistants such as career development and progression framework 74 , may have positive impact on safety and quality of care for people they support. Face-to-face formal and informal experiential learning is the preferred learning mode by patient facing healthcare assistants, and organisations could explore how to overcome challenges with facilitating this learning mode within geographically dispersed workforce.…”