PJ Care has won a National Training Award for our training on end of life care.

Supporting people at the end of a terminal illness is a huge responsibility. Family run business, PJ Care recognised the challenges its nursing staff were facing on a daily basis and appointed Lyn Meehan, specialist Research and Development Nurse to develop and implement this specialist training to ensure the provision of the best possible end of life care for their residents.

One of the key drivers in this sector is to allow people more choice about where they die. Currently, both locally and nationally, over 56% of deaths occur in an NHS hospital; however, the team at PJ Care recognised that given a choice most people would prefer to die in their own home or surroundings. The challenge for the company was how to minimise the number of hospital admissions from PJ Care at the end of life and respond to the growing national agenda.

Up-skilling staff to feel more confident and competent supporting patients coming to the end of their lives was key. Background research found that staff were not always at ease with their own feelings about death, which often acted as a barrier to end of life care discussions with their residents. In addition, they felt that they didn’t have all the necessary skills to care for people who were in the final phase of dying.

A training programme was designed to be delivered in the workplace. All members of staff were invited to take part. The course has been a great success with the participants and an improvement in end of life care can already be seen.