PALLIATIVE CARE
Ambitions for Care
Russell Wickland, Nursing Hygiene Group’s (NHG) Group Business Consultant looks at the Ambitions for End of Life Care framework, aimed at improving palliative care and the challenges care home operators face.
With the recent introduction of the Ambitions for End of Life Care framework, the best possible delivery of care is now at the forefront of everyone’s mind.
The framework, known as ‘Ambitions for Palliative and End of Life Care: A national framework for local action’, aims to build on the 2008 Strategy for End of Life Care and sets out six ambitions for the future of palliative and end of life provision.
Delivering Tailored Designs The framework places emphasis on treating each patient individually by affording each person as much control as possible over the care they are receiving. Personal budgets and integrated personalised commissioning are some of the powerful tools that can be used to deliver tailored care.
Care home operators can offer a level of personalised care by designing a bespoke environment that can be easily adapted to the needs of the patient at that time. A good way to achieve this is to utilise a digital room creator, such as the one NHG have developed. The room creator allows operators to visualise their refurbished environment, including furnishings and décor, before they buy.
Contrary to popular belief, the key to creating the right environment isn’t simply about having a good design: it’s about balancing the aesthetics with ease of use and accessibility. It’s all about making sure the needs
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of the patient are met – physical, psychological, social and spiritual – as well as reassuring the family that their loved one is receiving the highest quality of care.
We urge all care homes and hospice operators to consult a design specialist when thinking about how to best fit out their rooms. With the help of a specialist design team, a bespoke solution can be created that not only factors in all of the necessary equipment, but also optimises the space for the best return on investment.
NHG’s in-house design team recently completed a 65-bedroom refurbishment in just 10 days. This created minimum disruption for residents and staff, allowing patients to move into their newly designed, state-of-the-art environment without incurring a huge and costly delay. When you use an interior designer who also supplies all the necessary palliative care equipment, this kind of turnaround is achievable.
Maximise comfort
and wellbeing The framework also aims to maximise the comfort and wellbeing of patients. Although this may seem like a blindingly obvious aspiration there is still a lot more operators could be doing to look after their patients.
Preventing bed sores and pressure ulcers is an area where operators and care staff could be doing more for bed bound patients. Without a
suitable mattress patients with areas of their body constantly in contact with the bed can often develop extremely uncomfortable pressure ulcers. Pressure ulcers are unpleasant for the patient and cost a lot more to cure than they do to prevent. This is why it pays the operator, in the long run, to focus on the prevention of these types of sores.
www.tomorrowscare.co.uk
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