Marie Curie launches new pilot scheme to give residents of nursing home a voice on how they wish to be cared for at the end of their lives

A new pilot scheme helping support residents in a London nursing home with their advanced care plans has been launched by Marie Curie.

In a shared decision-making process between the resident and a nurse at The Pines nursing home (Wandsworth), a Coordinate My Care Plan is created and then digitally shared with all urgent care services ensuring that everyone knows how, when and where to manage the resident in times of need.

The first stage of the pilot, run in partnership with Coordinate My Care (CMC), Wandsworth CCG, Sutton End of Life Care Team and the Health Innovation Network, the Academic Health Science Network for South London, has been taking place over the last few weeks with the nursing hours being fully funded by Marie Curie.

Marie Curie Nurse, Wendy Hutchinson, has been spending time with residents at a nursing home in Wandsworth, South London, to discuss their wishes, preferences and plans for end of life care with the support of a care home nurse and GP Faye Woolerton, who will add the clinical information, including resuscitation decisions if appropriate, and the medications.

CMC is an NHS database which shares information between healthcare providers including NHS 111 and London Ambulance Service, to ensure that people’s wishes are acknowledged when they are in an urgent care situation or are approaching the end of life.

Wendy, who has worked as a nurse for over 20 years, said: “I’ve been working with the nursing home staff and the local GP, ensuring meetings and conversations are had with all 35 residents to help avoid unnecessary trips to hospital.

“What is immediately evident from interviewing people so far, is that all say they want to avoid dying in hospital. By speaking with people now, when they are in a position to express their thoughts both with us and their families, means that everything is in place for the future. A lot of the people I’ve spoken with, when mentioning end of life, talk about their funerals. However, it is the stage of life just before this where people seem to not put as much planning into.

“Choosing where you might like to be cared for, to arrangements for a family pet, can give you peace of mind to have thought ahead. It can also ease stress for your loved ones, as they’ll know your wishes. Even if you’re not approaching the end of your life, you can still plan ahead and it can be helpful if there’s a time in the future when you aren’t able to tell people what you want.”

Debbie Ripley, Marie Curie’s Regional Manager for London, says: “We are really excited to be launching the first part of this pilot and the hope is, that if successful, we will then have the opportunity to roll out the service in more care homes in the area. For those who have diagnosed conditions such as dementia, which will get worse over time, it can be extremely important in planning ahead. We know how useful a resource Coordinate My Care is and it is vital in helping people plan their own end of life care options.

“This group of people are already receiving 24-hour nursing care in the community and if the home is where they wish to stay we need to record and plan for that and ensure that out of hours services are in a position to keep them at their home when their health further deteriorates.”

The use of CMC in nursing homes has always been an aspiration for the CMC service explains Professor Julia Riley, Clinical Lead for Coordinate My Care. She said: “This is an extremely vulnerable cohort of patients who would benefit immensely from advance care planning and are frequently admitted to hospital unnecessarily.

“Appropriate training, data security and IT have been some of the barriers to date. However, we are delighted to have overcome those barriers through this pilot and other models like it, for instance the dedicated work of Dr Asha Katwa and the PACT (Planning and Caring Together) project in supporting patients residing in care homes in Harrow with CMC.”

Gale Reece, the Care Home Project manager working for Wandswoth CCG, said: “Our aim is to support the improvement of quality care in care homes by promoting advanced care planning for residents fully involving their families.”

Marie Curie is the UK’s leading charity for people living with any terminal illness, and their families. The charity offers expert nursing care, guidance and support to help people get the most from the time they have left. If you’ve got questions about terminal illness or simply want someone to talk to, call the Marie Curie Support Line on 0800 090 2309 or visit mariecurie.org.uk/help  .