Hospice partnership helps more people spend final days at home

Rennie Grove and Florence Nightingale Hospice have teamed up to develop a fast-track approach to the delivery of end-of-life care services in Bucks.

The scheme brings together the previously separate provision of personal and clinical services. Its introduction cuts out delays to patients’ discharge from hospital, if they wish to die peacefully and with dignity at home.

Previously personal services – help with washing, dressing and eating, for example – for those reaching the end of life were delivered by NHS-contracted service providers. Local hospices provided specialist nursing care. The need to coordinate two separate referrals often meant delays.

The 12-month pilot programme in Buckinghamshire to bring both services under one umbrella began in April. Its introduction mirrors a successful pilot scheme in west Herts. That resulted in the Herts Valley Clinical Commissioning Group contracting its fast-track personalised care service provision to three local hospices, Peace Hospice, the Hospice of St Francis and Rennie Grove.

The Rapid Personal Care Service (RPCS) as it is known is still fully funded by the NHS but operates within the hospice organisations. The new structure allows for patients to be seamlessly cross-referred for personal care and nursing support. It is backed by a commitment that care will be implemented with 48 hours.

Dacorum team Hospice at Home nurse Jennifer Roberts explains the advantages of the new, joined-up, system. “Many of our hospice at home patients are not in need of personal care assistance until their final days. But when the time comes, the care needs to be organised quickly.”

Under the latest pilot scheme Rennie Grove will be providing care for the south Bucks area. Florence Nightingale will cover north Bucks.

Kim Ward, our RPCS Clinical Education and Quality lead said she was thrilled the benefits of the service would now be available in Bucks.