New nursing team to support end-of-life patients

A new team of nurses, who will support Islanders with life-limiting illnesses and their families to live well, will start next month [June].

The Living Well team will help to co-ordinate care for patients who are in their last 12 months of life – addressing everything from their physical needs to their spiritual, psychological and social wishes. 

The appointment of the team is the latest milestone to be achieved by the End-of-Life Partnership – a group made up of Health and Care Jersey, Jersey Hospice Care and several organisations across the Island involved in caring for Islanders who are on their end-of-life journey.

And to celebrate the achievements of the Partnership, as well as to encourage Islanders to talk about death and dying, a pop-up event will be held in town next week [15 May]. 

The Living Well team, who will be based at Jersey Hospice but will work across the community and in Jersey General Hospital, embodies key elements set out in the Palliative and End-of-Life Care Strategy for Adults in Jersey, including collaboration among health and care providers and a focus on personalised care and individual needs and wishes.

Rose Naylor, Director of Palliative Care Services at Jersey Hospice Care, said: “This is very much a welcomed development for Islanders especially as we know life can change quickly after a life-limiting diagnosis, and it is normal for people to feel overwhelmed.

“The Living Well Team of experienced nurses will support Islanders and their families from the point of diagnosis with whatever matters most to them – whether that is managing symptoms, talking through worries, or helping with practical concerns. They will work alongside other health and care providers to support care that is co-ordinated and enables the person to live well in a way that is right for them.” 

Another success that the group is celebrating is the appointment of a doctor and two nurse educators to provide health and care workers as well as family carers with the skills needed to deliver holistic and compassionate care for dying Islanders. The need for such training was identified in the strategy.

Under the training, healthcare workers are taught about advance care planning and the importance of having early conversations with patients to learn how they wish to be cared for as their illness progresses. They also learn about symptom control so they can help ease a person’s symptoms such as pain, and nausea, to give a patient, the best quality of life. 

The new services are funded in partnership between Jersey Hospice Care and HCJ. The funding provided though HCJ was allocated by the States Assembly in a previous Government Plan to enhance palliative and end of life care.

Organisations involved in the Partnership Group will discuss the services that they offer at a pop-up stand at Charing Cross on Thursday 15 May. Jersey’s celebration event follows on from Dying Matters Week – a national week held between 5 and 11 May which aims to break down the taboo of talking about death and dying.​​

Dr James Grose, chair of the End of Life Care Partnership Group and doctor undertaking the medical educator role, said: “I’m incredibly proud of the work that has been achieved by the Partnership Group. The establishment of the Living Well team, along with the appointment of the educator roles, shows we have made meaningful strides in being able to provide the best possible end-of-life and palliative care for Islanders. 

“I hope Islanders take the opportunity to find out more about the Partnership and the work that we have been doing by visiting our pop-up stall this week.”