On 16th December, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published new guidelines entitled: Care of dying adults in the last days of life.
The guidelines, which are set out for health and social care professionals, state that patients must be treated with respect and end of life care should be tailored to the needs of the patient rather than the blanket approach adopted by the former Liverpool Care Pathway. NICE have called for more focus on individualistic care for each patient, stating that the wishes of the patients and their families must be central to any care provided.
At Myton, we passionately believe that the final part of someone’s life is as important as the beginning and that everyone matters for every single moment of their life. We always look beyond the illness and see the person and provide expert care and support tailored to each patient’s individual needs.
One of our patients, Ken Liddle, suffered from Motor Neurone Disease and had been diagnosed just a year earlier before spending his final Christmas with his family at our Coventry hospice. Ken, 34, was one of the first patients cared for at Coventry Myton where staff pulled out all the stops to give Ken and his family a magical Christmas and our Myton team helped him fulfil many of his final wishes.
His wife, Annette, said: “It broke Ken’s heart that he would not be around to see his children grow up and be there for all the special occasions. The nurses spent hours sitting with him to write Christmas and birthday cards for them to open for every year until they are 21 and to mark big occasions so they always feel that their dad is with them. Ken was a Catholic and staff also arranged for us to have our son baptised at Myton as it was something he wanted to see. We have had very sad times but when I’m at Myton I feel happy and remember all the good times we had together as a family. The children love it there and the counselling team have been brilliant and are still helping them now. We will always be grateful for all the love and care we received and I know Ken would be too. We are so glad we were all able to spend his last Christmas together and the memories will stay with us forever.”
We believe that everyone across Coventry and Warwickshire has the right to have a good, natural death, the way they want it to be and with their loved ones supported. We are also committed to training, supporting and encouraging other health care providers to practice good end of life care. We are about living and dying well and feel encouraged that the new guidelines should enable more health care organisations to support people better at the end of their life and offer them the best possible care.
For more information, please call us on 01926 492518