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Hospital wards and other facilities which provide palliative care for patients are to be transformed as a result of a new £1 million programme funded by the UK’s Department of Health.
Nurse-led teams in 19 NHS Trusts and one prison will work to improve facilities to care for thousands of dying patients, the bereaved and the front-line staff who care for them.
The wide range of projects will include new palliative care beds, improvements to facilities for families and visitors, dedicated bereavement suites and refurbished mortuary viewing facilities.
The announcement comes ahead of the government’s “End of Life Care” strategy to be launched later this year which will give people greater choice and improved care at the end of their life.
It follows a pilot scheme in eight sites on end-of-life care that was completed earlier this year.
The programme, led by the King’s Fund, will see each of the selected teams given an initial budget of £40,000 to undertake their project. Each team member will also receive training to develop their leadership skills.
King’s Fund Chief Executive Niall Dickson said: “We are still not doing enough for patients at the end of life. This new programme is an important step towards better care for a much neglected group.”
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