CHSS helps Pilgrims Hospices evaluate new service to improve end-of-life care for terminally-ill people

The Centre for Health Services Studies (CHSS) at the University of Kent is helping Pilgrims Hospices evaluate a new service that will improve end-of-life care for terminally-ill people who prefer to remain at home. 

The new service will mean that Pilgrims health care assistants can offer care and support to patients and their families on the same day it is requested and for up to 72 hours. The service will work with other community care providers to give everyone in east Kent more choice about end-of-life care by early 2011. 

By working closely with Pilgrims Hospices, a registered charity providing specialist palliative care free of charge to people in east Kent, CHSS researchers aim to determine whether the new service will enable more people to die where they prefer, especially for those wishing to die at home. The impact of the service on carers will also be evaluated using interviews and postal questionnaires. It will also compare the cost of providing the new service versus the cost of usual care.

The evaluation has been funded by the National Institute for Health Research's Research for Patient Benefit programme.

Nikki Le Prevost, Associate Director at Pilgrims Hospices said: 'The NHS National End of Life Care Programme launched in November 2004 aims to increase individuals' choice over where they wish to live and die. Our experience for caring for terminally ill patients has taught us that many people would prefer to spend their last days in their own homes. Many organisations are beginning to tackle these issues by creating innovative and flexible services, but we need to find out what works best.

'The Centre for Health Services Studies has given us invaluable help in evaluating the new service. This is the first type of trial of its kind and the results will be of local and national significance. By properly evaluating the new service as it is rolled out across east Kent, we will provide evidence that will enable other providers to make informed decisions about new service development.'