Meet Dr Charlotte Youlden, from North Cumbria Integrated Care, and Advanced Clinical Practitioner (ACP) Sarah Sproat, from Eden Valley Hospice!
Charlotte and Sarah worked together to conduct an audit into the Care of the Dying Patient document (CDP), which is used in hospitals and hospices to ensure patients who are approaching the end of their life receive individualised, appropriate care.
This documentation audit was important because hospices have historically been excluded from the National Care at End of Life Audit (NACEL). Without this national benchmarking, it’s harder for us to see areas for improvement. Their findings showed that by auditing the hospice’s documentation practice, we can strengthen how we document and evidence the quality care we provide for patients and families.
Charlotte, who completed one of her training placements here at Eden Valley Hospice, and Sarah then presented these findings at the Palliative Care Congress to share their insights with others in the wider palliative care sector. It was well received, and they enjoyed the event – even getting their work published afterwards!
The learnings they brought back are helping to improve what we do in North Cumbria, including how we can be more environmentally sustainable and how to implement the research they undertook.
The hospice is now implementing the findings to ensure we’re not just delivering high-quality care for patients and their families, but documenting it too. This wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust. By working together, we can strengthen care across our community and create better outcomes for patients and their families.
We’re so proud of Dr Charlotte and Sarah, our ACP, for taking the initiative and ensuring we can continue to deliver the best possible care with compassion.
