scholarly journals ‘Necessity is the mother of invention’: Specialist palliative care service innovation and practice change in response to COVID-19. Results from a multinational survey (CovPall)

2021 ◽  
pp. 026921632110006
Author(s):  
Lesley Dunleavy ◽  
Nancy Preston ◽  
Sabrina Bajwah ◽  
Andy Bradshaw ◽  
Rachel Cripps ◽  
...  

Background: Specialist palliative care services have a key role in a whole system response to COVID-19, a disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. There is a need to understand service response to share good practice and prepare for future care. Aim: To map and understand specialist palliative care services innovations and practice changes in response to COVID-19. Design: Online survey of specialist palliative care providers (CovPall), disseminated via key stakeholders. Data collected on service characteristics, innovations and changes in response to COVID-19. Statistical analysis included frequencies, proportions and means, and free-text comments were analysed using a qualitative framework approach. Setting/participants: Inpatient palliative care units, home nursing services, hospital and home palliative care teams from any country. Results: Four hundred and fifty-eight respondents: 277 UK, 85 Europe (except UK), 95 World (except UK and Europe), 1 missing country. 54.8% provided care across 2+ settings; 47.4% hospital palliative care teams, 57% in-patient palliative care units and 57% home palliative care teams. The crisis context meant services implemented rapid changes. Changes involved streamlining, extending and increasing outreach of services, using technology to facilitate communication, and implementing staff wellbeing innovations. Barriers included; fear and anxiety, duplication of effort, information overload and funding. Enablers included; collaborative teamwork, staff flexibility, a pre-existing IT infrastructure and strong leadership. Conclusions: Specialist palliative care services have been flexible, highly adaptive and have adopted low-cost solutions, also called ‘frugal innovations’, in response to COVID-19. In addition to financial support, greater collaboration is essential to minimise duplication of effort and optimise resource use. ISRCTN16561225 https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN16561225

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lesley Dunleavy ◽  
Nancy Preston ◽  
Sabrina Bajwah ◽  
Andy Bradshaw ◽  
Rachel Cripps ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundSpecialist palliative care services have a key role in a whole system response to COVID-19. There is a need to understand service response to share good practice and prepare for future care.AimTo map and understand specialist palliative care services innovations and practice changes in response to COVID-19 (CovPall).DesignOnline survey of specialist palliative care providers, disseminated via key stakeholders. Data collected on service characteristics, innovations and changes in response to COVID-19. Statistical analysis included frequencies, proportions and means, and free-text comments were analysed using a qualitative framework approach.Setting/participantsInpatient palliative care units, home nursing services, hospital and home palliative care teams from any country.Results458 respondents: 277 UK, 85 Europe (except UK), 95 World (except UK and Europe), 1 missing country. 54.8% provided care across 2+ settings; 47.4% hospital palliative care teams, 57% in-patient palliative care units, and 57% home palliative care teams. The crisis context meant services implemented rapid changes. Changes involved streamlining, extending and increasing outreach of services, using technology to facilitate communication, and implementing staff wellbeing innovations. Barriers included; fear and anxiety, duplication of effort, information overload, funding, and IT infrastructure issues. Enablers included; collaborative teamwork, pooling of staffing resources, staff flexibility, a pre-existing IT infrastructure and strong leadership.ConclusionsSpecialist palliative care services have been flexible, highly adaptive and have adopted a ‘frugal innovation’ model in response to COVID-19. In addition to financial support, greater collaboration is essential to minimise duplication of effort and optimise resource use.ISRCTN16561225https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN16561225Key StatementsWhat is already known about the topic?Specialist palliative care is part of a whole healthcare system response to COVID-19.Services need to make practice changes in response to the global pandemic.What this paper addsSpecialist palliative care services responded rapidly to COVID-19 in both planning for change and then adapting to needs and requirements.Services often relied on ‘improvisation’, ‘quick fixes’ and ‘making do’ when responding to the COVID-19 crisis.Implications for practice, theory or policyIn addition to financial support, greater collaboration is essential to build organisational resilience and drive forward innovation, by minimising duplication of effort and optimising resource use.The effectiveness and sustainability of any changes made during the crisis needs further evaluation.


2021 ◽  
pp. 026921632110633
Author(s):  
Joanne Bayly ◽  
Andy Bradshaw ◽  
Lucy Fettes ◽  
Muhammed Omarjee ◽  
Helena Talbot-Rice ◽  
...  

Background: Palliative rehabilitation involves multi-professional processes and interventions aimed at optimising patients’ symptom self-management, independence and social participation throughout advanced illness. Rehabilitation services were highly disrupted during the Covid-19 pandemic. Aim: To understand rehabilitation provision in palliative care services during the Covid-19 pandemic, identifying and reflecting on adaptative and innovative practice to inform ongoing provision. Design: Cross-sectional national online survey. Setting/participants: Rehabilitation leads for specialist palliative care services across hospice, hospital, or community settings, conducted from 30/07/20 to 21/09/2020. Findings: 61 completed responses (England, n = 55; Scotland, n = 4; Wales, n = 1; and Northern Ireland, n = 1) most frequently from services based in hospices (56/61, 92%) providing adult rehabilitation. Most services (55/61, 90%) reported rehabilitation provision becoming remote during Covid-19 and half reported reduced caseloads. Rehabilitation teams frequently had staff members on sick-leave with suspected/confirmed Covid-19 (27/61, 44%), redeployed to other services/organisations (25/61, 41%) or furloughed (15/61, 26%). Free text responses were constructed into four themes: (i) fluctuating shared spaces; (ii) remote and digitised rehabilitation offer; (iii) capacity to provide and participate in rehabilitation; (iv) Covid-19 as a springboard for positive change. These represent how rehabilitation services contracted, reconfigured, and were redirected to more remote modes of delivery, and how this affected the capacity of clinicians and patients to participate in rehabilitation. Conclusion: This study demonstrates how changes in provision of rehabilitation during the pandemic could act as a springboard for positive changes. Hybrid models of rehabilitation have the potential to expand the equity of access and reach of rehabilitation within specialist palliative care.


2020 ◽  
pp. bmjspcare-2019-002148
Author(s):  
Jee Whang Kim ◽  
Sandra Olive ◽  
Steve Jones ◽  
Muhunthan Thillai ◽  
Anne-Marie Russell ◽  
...  

BackgroundFibrotic interstitial lung disease is an incurable disease with poor prognosis. We aimed to understand factors affecting decisions regarding referrals to specialist palliative care services and to address barriers and facilitators to referrals from healthcare professionals’ perspectives.MethodsA survey study of healthcare professionals, including respiratory physicians, interstitial lung disease nurse specialists, respiratory nurse specialists and palliative care physicians, was conducted using a questionnaire, entailing 17 questions.ResultsThirty-six respondents, including 15 interstitial lung disease nurse specialists completed the questionnaire. Symptom control, psychological/spiritual support, general deterioration and end-of-life care were the most common reasons for referrals to specialist palliative care services. Most respondents felt confident in addressing palliative care needs and discussing palliative care with patients. A few participants emphasised that experienced respiratory nurse specialists are well placed to provide symptom management and to ensure continuity of patient care. Participants reported that access to palliative care could be improved by increasing collaborative work between respiratory and palliative care teams.ConclusionsMost respondents felt that enhancing access to specialist palliative care services would benefit patients. However, palliative care and respiratory care should not be considered as mutually exclusive and multidisciplinary approach is recommended.


2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Swetenham ◽  
Debra Rowett ◽  
David Stephenson

Objectives To operationalise the concept of ‘advanced practice roles’ in pharmacy within the new integrated regionalised palliative care service model outlined in the Palliative Care Services Plan 2009–2016, SA Health. Methods A working group was established under the auspices of the Palliative Care Clinical Network to progress the development of advanced practice pharmacist roles for regionalised palliative care services. A pharmacy stakeholder forum was conducted in December 2010 to provide further guidance on the advanced practice pharmacist roles in the following domains: education; network links and partnerships; quality and safety; and research. Results Advanced practice pharmacist positions were created for each of the three regionalised palliative care services in South Australia (SA). Funding was obtained for a Statewide Palliative Care Pharmacy Network project, to build a sustainable community-based palliative care pharmacy network. Advanced practice pharmacists commenced in the regionalised palliative care services of SA on 4 October 2011. Conclusions The Statewide Palliative Care Clinical Network and the SA Palliative Care Plan provided a policy framework that supported involvement and advocacy in the planning of the advanced practice pharmacist roles. Collaboration between leaders in workforce reform, service planners, specialist palliative care providers and the pharmacy sector was a key enabler for developing the advanced practice pharmacist positions for regionalised palliative care services. What is known about the topic? The advanced practice palliative care pharmacist role reflects a new direction for the discipline of pharmacy and has been embraced at a time when a nationally endorsed Advanced Pharmacy Practice Framework has been published, while recognising that registration for pharmacists in Australia currently does not have specific endorsement for advanced practice. What does this paper add? This paper outlines the value of collaboration across settings and sectors. There is an opportunity for these roles to align with the new nationally endorsed framework for advanced practice in pharmacy. What are the implications for practitioners? These new positions strengthen the links between the hospital and community pharmacy sectors to enhance a quality use of medicines approach with improved access to end-of-life medicines for home-based palliative care clients, which actively facilitates a home death for those who choose it.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jo Bayly ◽  
Andy Bradshaw ◽  
Lucy Fettes ◽  
Muhammed Omarjee ◽  
Helena Talbot-Rice ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Palliative rehabilitation involves multi-professional processes and interventions aimed at optimising patients symptom self-management, independence, and social participation throughout advanced illness. Rehabilitation services were highly disrupted during the Covid-19 pandemic. Aim: To understand rehabilitation provision in palliative care services during the Covid-19 pandemic, identifying and reflecting on adaptative and innovative practice to inform ongoing provision. Design: Cross-sectional national online survey. Setting/participants: Rehabilitation leads for specialist palliative care services across hospice, hospital, or community settings, conducted from 30/07/20 to 21/09/2020. Findings: 61 completed responses (England, n=55; Scotland, n=4; Wales, n=1; and Northern Ireland, n=1) most frequently from services based in hospices (56/61, 92%) providing adult rehabilitation. Most services (55/61, 90%) reported rehabilitation provision becoming remote during Covid-19 and half reported reduced caseloads. Rehabilitation teams frequently had staff members on sick-leave with suspected/confirmed Covid-19 (27/61, 44%), redeployed to other services/organisations (25/61, 41%) or furloughed (15/61, 26%). Free text responses were constructed into four themes: (i) fluctuating shared spaces; (ii) remote and digitised rehabilitation offer; (iii) capacity to provide and participate in rehabilitation; (iv) Covid-19 as a springboard for positive change. These represent how rehabilitation services contracted, reconfigured, and were redirected to more remote modes of delivery, and how this affected the capacity of clinicians and patients to participate in rehabilitation. Conclusion: This study demonstrates how changes in provision of rehabilitation during the pandemic could act as a springboard for positive changes. Hybrid models of rehabilitation have the potential to expand the equity of access and reach of rehabilitation within specialist palliative care.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim de Nooijer ◽  
Yolanda WH Penders ◽  
Lara Pivodic ◽  
Nele J Van Den Noortgate ◽  
Peter Pype ◽  
...  

Background: There is recognition that older people with incurable conditions should have access to specialist palliative care services. However, it remains unclear which activities and outcomes these services entail for older people in primary care and to which patients they are provided. Aim: The aim of this review was to identify the criteria for referral to specialist services; who provides specialist palliative care; through which activities and with which frequency; which outcomes are reported; and which suggestions are made to improve services. Design: Systematic review of the literature and narrative synthesis. Quality appraisal and selection of studies were performed independently by two researchers. Participant characteristics, intervention features, outcome data and suggestions for improvement were retrieved. Data sources: Embase, Medline, Web of Science, Cochrane, Google Scholar, PsycINFO and CINAHL EBSCO databases (until June 2019). Results: Ten eligible articles, three qualitative, three quantitative, three mixed-method and one narrative review, were identified. Referral criteria were mainly based on patient characteristics such as diagnosis. The specialist services involved a variety of activities and outcomes and descriptions were often lacking. Services could be improved regarding the information flow between healthcare professionals, greater in-depth palliative care knowledge for case managers and social workers, identification of a key worker and support for family carers. Conclusion: The limited evidence available shows areas for improvement of the quality of and access to specialist services for older people, such as support for family carers. In addition, this review underscores the need for comprehensive reporting of interventions and the use of consensus-based outcome measures.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. A78.1-A78
Author(s):  
Owen Pooley ◽  
Alison Coackley ◽  
Agnes Noble ◽  
Ann Griffiths ◽  
Donna Arundell

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