End of life charity Marie Curie and care provider Hallmark Care Homes are working together to implement the care group’s End of Life Care Strategy.
Through this unique collaboration, Marie Curie will provide training in end-of-life awareness; communication; coping strategies; symptom management and care planning to 2,100 Hallmark employees. Meanwhile, Hallmark will support Marie Curie to hone its resources for a care home audience and in the progression of relevant research to improve end-of-life care outcomes for older people.
Hallmark approached Marie Curie to seek input on the development of their End of Life Care Strategy. To support the strategy, Marie Curie is providing mentorship, clinical supervision and training in counselling and leadership support for the Hallmark Care Homes End of Life Care Champions.
Nationally, care home workers have faced a stark increase in deaths during the pandemic. However, a trend had already been identified of an increasing number of deaths in a care home setting. A 2017 Public Health England review found that, between 2011 and 2017, the number of deaths in care homes increased by 20% as the population continued to age and the need for residential care increased. With the Office of National Statistics predicting the number of persons aged 85+ to double between 2018 and 2043, that demand for residential care is expected to grow substantially. This highlights a need, prior to the events of 2020, for such expert support for people working with care home residents.
Welcoming the new partnership with Marie Curie, Care Quality Governance and Compliance Director at Hallmark Care Homes Julie Rayner said: “There are ground-breaking times ahead for Hallmark and Marie Curie as we work and share learning together.
“We are delighted to be to implementing our End of Life Care Strategy. Not only will our teams be benefitting from the high-quality training provided by Marie Curie, but our End of Life Care Champions will be mentored by Marie Curie nurses and their reflective practice will be supported by regular action learning sets, again being facilitated by the Marie Curie team.”
Eamon O’Kane, Deputy Director, Devolved Nations and National Programmes at Marie Curie, said: “Marie Curie’s priority is to improve the experience of dying, death and bereavement for all. We commend Hallmark in their proactive efforts to change the experiences for their service users, relatives and their workforce.
“Marie Curie have decades of experience to share in the provision of direct care at end of life and we know we can make greater impact by working with a wider network of stakeholders who are ideally placed to help people at end of life.”
The work with Marie Curie has been developing virtually over the last nine months and the planned timetable of training and knowledge exchange will be out to Hallmark employees by the end of March.
