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The Southern Health and Social Care Trust has launched a pilot programme aimed at improving how hospital staff document care for patients in the last days of life.
The pilot is currently underway on Ward 2 North at Craigavon Hospital, where staff are using an electronic care record to document person-centred care for patients at end of life. The aim is to ensure each patient's comfort, personal needs and family support are clearly recorded and understood across the whole care team. Feedback from ward doctors and nurses will be used to shape and refine the process as it develops.
The work supports a key recommendation from the Northern Ireland Assembly Health Committee's Access to Palliative Care Services inquiry report, which called for a regional approach to documenting care in the last days of life. Representatives from the Department of Health and the NI Assembly Health Committee visited Craigavon Area Hospital this week to see a demonstration of the new approach in the hospital's Simulation Suite.
Dr Andrea Green, Respiratory Consultant with the Southern Trust, said: "Our nurses and doctors in 2 North Respiratory have extensive experience in caring for people in their last days. We recognise the importance of those emotional and challenging final days for patients and their loved ones. This pilot will help ensure every patient receives compassionate, personalised care, and that their wishes and comfort are clearly recorded for the whole care team."
Dr Sarah Cousins, Palliative Medicine Consultant with the Southern Trust, said: "While many people tell us they would prefer to die at home, hospital remains the most common place of death for a range of reasons. As ward doctors and nurses, it is a privilege to care for people when dying at home is not possible, and we want to ensure those last days are as personal and individual as possible."
Debbie Burns, Director of Operations, Adult Community and Acute Services, said the pilot reflected the Trust's wider commitments. "This pilot shows our commitment to putting patients at the centre of everything we do and is in line with our Vision and Strategy 2030 to deliver safe, high-quality, person-centred care across the Southern Trust."
