Did you know?… 30% of people in hospital are in their last year of life – speak to your patients about their care plan

January 14, 2022

Think about the patients on your ward; use the SPICT tool in UNITY to identify those who may have a short prognosis.

At SWB we advocate using the Supportive Care Plan for patients likely to be in the last year of life, to guide and document open communications with patients about their future care and preferences.  The care plan can should be written in conjunction with the patient, after a sensitive and honest dialogue about your expectations for their health going forward, and can be used for people who are in the last months, weeks or days of life.  It is vital that the information contained in the SCP is then shared with other teams looking after the patient, for example their GP or community palliative care team.  A good place to document the discussion would be on the discharge summary, but if the patient is expected to die very quickly a telephone call to the patients GP is also very helpful.

In order to use the SCP at the right time for the right patients, we need to identify patients who could have a short prognosis.  We advocate using the SPICT tool, which is also available on Unity, to identify patients who are deteriorating, and are likely to have increased care needs.

If we are able to have these conversations with patients in a timely manner we have the opportunity to shape their future care so that we meet their needs and wishes as they approach the final phase of their lives.