Palliative care
Bexley Care Trust is committed to providing the best quality of care for all patients who are nearing, or at the end of their life - regardless of diagnosis.
All GP Practices in Bexley have signed up to the Gold Standards Framework (GSF). This national programme supports and enables doctors and nurses to make improvements in care for patients with advanced, incurable and progressive conditions. In Bexley we call these ‘Gold’ patients. Working together, professionals from across the borough are striving to enable Gold patients who wish to, to die in their own homes, where circumstances allow.
The improved services and plans for 2010 offer the following benefits for patients and carers:
- Gold patients are discussed at monthly meetings by the team of professionals involved in their care, in order to improve communication and the co-ordination of services
- Gold patient records are being flagged on GP systems so that practices can help give them priority access to appointments and prescriptions
- Work is underway to make Gold patients’ information available to the out of hours doctors on call (Grabadoc) in case care is needed during the night
- A support pack with up to date, local information will be available, along with a new web page for Gold patients and carers later this year
- Local Care Homes will benefit from the support and training of clinical nurse specialists.
GPs and district nurses in Bexley undertake on-going training and education in specialised palliative care.
We believe that looking after people at the end of their lives is a very special privilege. In Bexley, we are committed to improving the quality of care we offer to enable people to enjoy the best possible quality of life in their last days.
