We all expect the very best care; no matter where and no matter when. But outside of working hours, delivering the highest standard of emergency care hasn't always been possible. That's especially worrying when we're reliant on out-of-hours (OOH) care for more than 70 per cent of our lives.
Macmillan Cancer Support's new Out-of-Hours toolkit is designed to change this by sharing good practice and boosting the quality of care during this potentially problematic period for both cancer and palliative care patients.
The OOH toolkit is structured around four common areas, often at the centre of breakdowns in care;
- Communication & coordination of care
- Access to medicines
- Education standards of those providing OOH care
- Resuscitation guidance and policies
Professor Jane Maher, Chief Medical Officer at Macmillan Cancer Support said:
"There was a real lack of this information all in one place across the whole of the UK and that's exactly why we've created the toolkit. It'll provide health professionals with a benchmark for good out-of-hours practice and hopefully enable sharing of the good practice that is already happening. And the toolkit doesn't end there. We want professionals to share their good practice with us too, so that these can be incorporated into the toolkit - it's a work in progress."
"The patient is everyone's top priority and that's why we should be striving to constantly come up with new and innovative ways of working," Professor Maher continues.
Although care for some patients during the OOH period is very complex, with good systems in place to support the delivery of OOH care, there's a higher likelihood that care will be more seamless and better coordinated.
Ted Cassady had terminal cancer and died peacefully at home with his family around him on the 6th April 2008. He was 46 years old.
Whilst Shani, his widow was glad of the support from her husband's GP and the district nursing team, there were still issues that she says, 'could've been ironed out.'
"When Ted's condition suddenly deteriorated, my daughter raced around Nottinghamshire trying to source morphine to relieve the pain. It was the last thing she needed to be doing.
Shani continues, "If we'd been given an emergency palliative care medicine box to keep at home1, as the toolkit suggests, it would've given them more time together. Those simple things can really make a difference."
Health professionals and anyone else with an interest in OOH care can benefit from the toolkit (including paramedics, service providers and commissioners).
1 Excerpt taken from Macmillan's Out-Of-Hours Toolkit
Source
Macmillan Cancer Support