CAPE: Community cAre Pathways at the End of life: mapping the pathways to improve care. - Primary Care Unit

Title:	CAPE: Community cAre Pathways at the End of life: mapping the pathways to improve care.
Project Description:	Of the half million people who die each year in England, less than one in five die at home, yet home is where most would prefer to die. Some receive excellent care, but many do not. The NHS is seeking to raise the standard of care for all and enable more to die at home. The key question this study addresses is: for whom is home death “good”? Is it possible to identify: a) Those for whom a “good death” at home is achievable, for whom greater effort is needed to optimise home care? b) Those for whom “a good death” at home is rarely achievable, for whom inpatient care should be accepted and planned? Our aims are: 1) To identify the patterns of care need of people approaching the end of life in the community. 2) To map their current pathways of care provision and place of death. 3) To confirm these patterns of need and care pathways with carers, GPs and DNs. 4) To investigate the health costs of the identified care pathways. 5) To develop a toolkit for Primary Care Teams to review care and better align patient needs to care provision. Twenty varied practices in Cambridgeshire will be recruited.
Methodology description:	Phase 1: we will summarize the records of 20 consecutive deceased patients in each practice. Phase 2: we will discuss 10 recent deaths in each practice with the GPs and DNs Phase 3: in 10 practices we will compare the views of carer, GP and DN of the care of two patients Phase 4: we will then develop a toolkit for GPs and DNs to review and improve their care. This research will enable better identification of patients’ place of death and the development of services sensitive to the needs of patients and carers. The toolkit will help practitioners to improve care by learning from the experience of those close to deceased patients.
Project organisation
Start date:	21st July 2012
End date:	30th April 2016
Contact person:	Dr Stephen Barclay
Contact Details:	Primary Care Unit Institute of Public Health University Forvie Site, Robinson Way Cambridge Cambs CB2 0SR UK Telephone: (01223) 763082 Fax: 01223 762515 E-mail: sigb2@medschl.cam.ac.uk
Collaborative:	Brooke Swash, Emily Moran, Sue Boase
Funding information
Funding Organisation:	NIHR Research for Patient Benefit
Funding Reference:	RfPB
Funding Amount:	£249,748

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