Page 5 - HA Convention 2016 [Abstracts (Day 1)]

Plenary Sessions HOSPITAL AUTHORITY CONVENTION 2016

P4.1 Palliative Care 16:15 Convention Hall B

National Strategic Approach to Palliative and End-of-life Care
Wee B
Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine and Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford, UK

Health and care systems in most countries share similar aims and values even if our context and political imperatives
influence differently the ways in which we set about delivering care for the people who live in our countries. We must never
lose sight of why we are doing what we do, even whilst remaining critical of the “how”. In the UK, the healthcare systems for
England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have become more and more devolved over recent years, so each country
now has its own strategy for palliative and end-of-life care. In this presentation, England will be focused and our journey from
the first national strategy for end-of-life care in 2008 to the production of the “Ambitions for Palliative and End-of-Life” in 2015
will be described, which provides a national strategic approach and framework whilst enabling and promoting local actions.
Why we approached things the way we did, some of the high profile influencing events, the expected and unexpected hurdles
and rewards along the way, and what we hope will happen over the coming years will be discussed. Whilst details of the
journey itself may be specific to England, many of the lessons learnt along the way are likely to resonate with others, and be
applicable irrespective of cultural norms, language, or national and regional boundaries.

Tuesday, 3 May

P4.2 Palliative Care 16:15 Convention Hall B

Public Health Approaches to Palliative Care
Currow DC
Flinders University, Australia

“Expected” deaths are an increasing part of healthcare needs. This has arisen in late 20th century and early 21st century as
other causes of death have been so effectively dealt with. The way we die as a community continues to rapidly evolve and
over the last century has seen transformations never imagined.

At a whole of population level, the number of expected death can be easily predicted and the needs of those patients and
their families are far better understood than ever before. Further, the appreciation that good end-of-life care actually adds to
the health of the community (particularly for caregivers who survive and move on with their life) means that this is a crucial
part of healthcare policy.

Population-based approaches to this require health policy makers and clinicians to keep abreast of rapidly changing data. At
a population level evidence exists that the needs of patient and their families can be quantified, that outcomes are associated
with improved access to palliative care and that there are now data supporting causal benefit from palliative care over and
above standard care.

The community and health services both can benefit from high quality end-of-life care. Understanding disease trajectories
and developing policies that are not limited by prognosis nor by diagnosis but are based on the needs of patients and their
caregivers forms the pivot around which to build excellent end-of-life care. Investing in this will help caregivers later in their
own lives to continue to optimise their health.

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