Telford end of life services 'generally running well' but 'improvements could be made'
Healthcare services for end-of-life patients in Telford and Wrekin are generally running well but some improvements could be made, a new study has found.
Healthwatch Telford & Wrekin was asked by Shropdoc to explore people’s views of end of life and palliative care services with a particular focus on out-of-hours services.
The group says it experienced difficulties engaging with people due to the sensitivity of the subject, but managed to get feedback from 14 people.
A newly published report into the study, which took place between August and October last year, says: "This study demonstrated that while end of life care services were generally running well, some improvements could be made to the service.
"Feedback from respondents heavily centred around communication and staff attitude, they felt that how professionals communicated with them was very important and how they were treated by staff impacted on the delivery of care and their overall experience.
"Out-of-hours services was one of the main areas we wished to explore; unfortunately, however, this was restricted by the limited amount of feedback received on this topic."
The report says the group found there were breakdowns in communication between services and professionals, resulting in some patients and relatives not receiving appropriate information and guidance.
"Others were not fully supported with adequate care or equipment, including the failure to organise the provision of necessary medication," it said.
Priority
Some homeless people felt that they did not want to visit their doctor because of the way they were treated, and they were also unable to make appointments due to a lack of access to technology.
The report also noted there were some language barriers and difficulties in acute care, where staff shortages affected patients’ quality of care and their experiences of A&E.
People said West Midlands Ambulance Service provide good care but there were sometimes long waits for ambulances to arrive.
Communication between professionals, patients and relatives was said to be good and people’s wishes were listened to and fulfilled.
The study also found that nurse co-ordinators, health visitors, nurses and carers made the biggest impact, with most people stating they had positive experiences with these staff.
In response to the findings, Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust said it had introduced swan rooms for end of life patients and Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust said improving end of life care was a "high priority".
As well as gathering feedback about health services, Healthwatch Telford & Wrekin also has statutory powers that it can use to influence service provision by encouraging improvements.
