Care home staff spend time at Wigan and Leigh Hospice to improve end of life care knowledge

Staff nurse Jamie Duncan-Noke, 31, and nursing assistant Tess Morales, 50, both work at Rosebridge Court care home in Hindley.

As part of an exchange programme between the two places they spent time at the hospice’s inpatient unit (IPU).

In turn, two hospice workers will go to the Darby Lane care home for a week in the new year.

The programme was set up by the Hospice In Your Care Home team’s manager Debbie Dempsey.

She said: “The aim is to try and raise awareness of the barriers to delivering end of life care in diverse settings.

"It’s so that the care home staff can experience how we do it here and take back their learnings to implement in their care home.

"Vice versa, our staff can be exposed to the challenges the care home staff face and learn from them in return.

“Rosebridge Court has specialist mental health and dementia units so spending time there will give our staff the opportunity to learn more about caring for patients at the end of life who also have mental health problems.”

Staff Nurse Jamie spent a week with the IPU team.

He said: “While I’ve been at the hospice I have helped with re-positioning a syringe driver and learnt more about the controlled drugs used in palliative care.

"I feel quite humbled I have had this opportunity and it makes me want to develop my knowledge more in palliative care and the principles and practices behind it.”

Nursing assistant Tess spent a week shadowing healthcare assistant Dawn Harrison on the inpatient unit.

She added: “I’ve enjoyed spending time with patients and I’ve seen how the nursing staff speak to families and patients about their wishes.

"That way of communicating with people who are at the end of their life, the respect shown and the importance of understanding their wishes, is something I will take back with me.”

Next month, the Hospice In Your Care Home team will visit Rosebridge Court to find out what changes have been implemented as a result.