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Improving end of life care in Flintshires nursing homes

Published: 21/05/2015

Flintshire County Council has been working in partnership with Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board to support local Nursing Homes and their staff, in their work providing end of life care for residents. The Six Steps to Success Programme is a palliative and end of life nursing programme that aims to prevent the need for residents to be moved from a Nursing Home, with staff who know them, into a hospital setting, which can be a long way away from families and friends It enables residents to remain in their preferred place of care with staff who have been trained to meet their individual needs and wishes. The first group of nurses who recently completed the intense six months training celebrated their success at an awards presentation held recently at the Beaufort Park Hotel near Mold. Councillor Andy Dunbobbin, Vice Chairman of the Councils Social and Health Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee, presented the certificates to each nurse and representatives from those Nursing Homes who have also gained the accreditation. Councillor Dunbobbin said: I was pleased to be asked to get involved with this important initiative to support local nursing staff in accessing the training they need in this specialist area of practice. I hope that it will mean more families in Flintshire will be able to spend quality time together with their loved ones, supported by staff who know them well. Councillor Christine Jones, Cabinet Member for Social Services, said: I am very proud of this scheme. The Flintshire programme is a partnership between the Councils Social Services team and the Macmillan end of life team at BCUHB. It was led by Theresa Richardson, Macmillan End of life Care Facilitator for North Wales, and co-ordinated by Sarah Dickinson, who is a nurse at Holywell Community Hospital. All the Nursing Homes in Flintshire were invited to join the programme. So far six have been accredited, along with twelve nurses. My congratulations go to all those nurses who worked so hard to complete their training. The success of this initial programme in Flintshire has encouraged Social Services and BCUHB to develop a similar project to support and educate all Residential Care Homes in Flintshire. Social Services will be leading this new initiative and, so far, eleven Residential Homes and over 20 staff have registered an interest in taking part in the new programme, which will be running until the Autumn. Image Pictured are the nurses who received their certificates this week, with Cllr Andy Dunbobbin.