'As the population ages, care homes are an increasingly important setting for the care of older people with palliative and end of life care needs. National practice statements for general palliative care in adult care homes in Scotland were published jointly by the then Scottish Executive and the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care in 2006 and were used by the Care Commission as part of the inspection focus for care homes from March 2007 - March 2008. Feedback from the inspection process will inform future developments to ensure quality and consistency of care planning and delivery in this sector.'
from LIVING AND DYING WELL
a national action plan for palliative and end of live care in Scotland
If your preferred place of care is your care home NHS Lanarkshire has a dedicated team of palliative care health professionals and support staff in the community to give you palliative or end of life care in the comfort of your care homepalliative or end of life care in the comfort of your care home.
Care homes in Lanarkshire now have an allocated GP practice looking after them which means you will have regular visits from your GP. District nurses provide general palliative care support and work with the hospice and Macmillan nursing teams when specialist palliative care is required. You will be given a yellow 'home pack' where all the information about you and your condition will be stored so that whoever is caring for you can easily see your medical history, needs and wishes. The home pack will also contain information on support that is available locally for you and your carers. The district nurses and out of hours staff will organise any medication you require out of surgery hours.
GP practices use the Gold Standards Framework which encourages multi disciplinary working and a systematic approach to end of life care. The Liverpool Care Pathway, which is a continuous quality improvement programme for care, is available to patients in the last few days of life. NHS Lanarkshire has a team of highly skilled professionals providing the Liverpool Care Pathway in the community.
Macmillan nurses are skilled in pain and symptom control and offer emotional support and practical advice to people with palliative care needs and their carers from the point of diagnosis onwards.
The Marie Curie nurses provide specialist care in the last six months of life. It is usually provided overnight. Marie Curie is a charity and also runs a number of hospices in the UK.
Crossroads
Palliative care home attendant schemes have been developed in partnership with Crossroads (a charity) in Blantyre, Hamilton, East Kilbride and Larkhall. They provide fast track and time limited home care support to families and carers of people who have life limiting conditions. The service is part of a package of care provision, complementing social work, Marie Curie and community nursing services.
Local authority community care
Access to local authority community care services is often an important element in palliative care for people at home in the community. Being able to arrange community care rapidly for a patient in hospital is particularly important for those with a limited life expectancy and who want to get home as soon as possible.