Caring for the Dying Patient

*** IMPORTANT - This will go live week commencing 19th April please continue to use paper copies until this date***

It was agreed through the End of Life Steering Group that this document will be transcribed onto Meditech so that medical, nursing and multidisciplinary staff can assess, implement and evaluate end of life care within the electronic patient record.

There has already been a pilot which has taken place on Ward 19 at South Tyneside Hospital and Ward E52 at Sunderland Hospital. This pilot has been evaluated and changes made to ensure this is fit for purpose based on the feedback from those involved on the two sites. Colleagues on Ward 19 and E52 should continue to access the electronic copy as they have done throughout the pilot. 

The ‘document’ will be active on the system from the 19th April and resembles the paper version that all staff are now familiar with. In summary: 

• The ‘Caring for the Dying Patient’ document will be uploaded to MEDITECH, week commencing 19th April
• This will only affect adult inpatient wards at South Tyneside District Hospital and Sunderland Royal Hospital - PLEASE NOTE THIS WILL NOT AFFECT ICCU DEPARTMENTS
•  This will allow medical staff to initiate their assessment electronically and document ongoing discussions/care
• Nursing staff will be able to undertake holistic assessment, initiate care plans and evaluate ongoing care whilst members of the multidisciplinary team will be able to document their interventions as part of the overall record  
• This will completely remove all paper copies and ensure all correspondence regarding End of Life Care is documented electronically

In addition, nursing staff will notice that the ‘care after death’ checklist has also been added to the ‘caring for the dying patient’ document to prevent staff completing the paper copy. For those patients NOT on the document, there is guidance within the handout as to how to access the checklist on meditech to complete.

***This will go live week commencing 19th April***

In order to provide appropriate support and guidance, the following training options are available.  Unfortunately we are NOT allowed to deliver any face to face training at this stage: