The Chair introduced Sue Spooner who had undertaken a major piece of work in 2005 to look at the provision of palliative care in Norfolk and published a subsequent report. Ms Spooner thanked the Chair for the invitation to talk about what was a difficult subject and explained that Chris Coath (Head of Locality Commissioning South for NCC Adult Community Services and South Norfolk Clinical Commissioning Group ([CCG]) had worked with her on the report. Ms Spooner said that the recommendations from the report included the need for more services providing palliative care in the county. people had been interviewed in compiling the report (many were carers of relatives who were dying) and the need for better communication and information by all health care professionals was identified. Ms Spooner said that problems with the out of hours medical services and emergency services were identified with regards to palliative care. Ms Spooner said that palliative care was made more complex because on occasions, Doctors caring for a terminally ill patient did not communicate with each Also, transport issues were identified as a major concern for the terminally ill and also the quality of waiting rooms in hospitals and clinics was not deemed to be of an acceptable level for patients who were often in pain and distress. Ms Spooner referred to statistics around ageing in the county: By the year 2016, the population aged 65 years and over will increase by 33% across Norfolk. Projections for the whole of Norfolk showed that there will be 127,300 single person households in 2016 and 142,400 in 2026. Ms Spooner said that statistics showed that the overwhelming majority (62%) of people in Norfolk wanted to die at home but only 24% people in Norfolk did so (and 23% in Great Yarmouth and Waveney). Ms Spooner referred to the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) and said that it was recommended in the report, however it was only as effective as the staff who implemented it. Ms Spooner talked about the initiatives currently in place in Norfolk: an element of silo thinking around palliative care resulting in a postcode lottery with regards to the provision of services. It was still early days with regards to how CCGs would tackle the challenge of palliative care. Still no equitable access based on care needs. Still no 24/7, 7/7 response.
The Chair introduced Sue Spooner who had undertaken a major piece of work in 2005 to look at the provision of palliative care in Norfolk and published a subsequent report. Ms Spooner thanked the Chair for the invitation to talk about what was a difficult subject and explained that Chris Coath (Head of Locality Commissioning South for NCC Adult Community Services and South Norfolk Clinical Commissioning Group ([CCG]) had worked with her on the report. Ms Spooner said that the recommendations from the report included the need for more services providing palliative care in the county. people had been interviewed in compiling the report (many were carers of relatives who were dying) and the need for better communication and information by all health care professionals was identified. Ms Spooner said that problems with the out of hours medical services and emergency services were identified with regards to palliative care. Ms Spooner said that palliative care was made more complex because on occasions, Doctors caring for a terminally ill patient did not communicate with each Also, transport issues were identified as a major concern for the terminally ill and also the quality of waiting rooms in hospitals and clinics was not deemed to be of an acceptable level for patients who were often in pain and distress. Ms Spooner referred to statistics around ageing in the county: By the year 2016, the population aged 65 years and over will increase by 33% across Norfolk. Projections for the whole of Norfolk showed that there will be 127,300 single person households in 2016 and 142,400 in 2026. Ms Spooner said that statistics showed that the overwhelming majority (62%) of people in Norfolk wanted to die at home but only 24% people in Norfolk did so (and 23% in Great Yarmouth and Waveney). Ms Spooner referred to the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) and said that it was recommended in the report, however it was only as effective as the staff who implemented it. Ms Spooner talked about the initiatives currently in place in Norfolk: an element of silo thinking around palliative care resulting in a postcode lottery with regards to the provision of services. It was still early days with regards to how CCGs would tackle the challenge of palliative care. Still no equitable access based on care needs. Still no 24/7, 7/7 response.
norfolk%20council%20on%20ageing%2024.04.13.docx