End of life charity Marie Curie is to provide support to Care UK's home teams during the Covid pandemic and help prepare for any future outbreaks.
Marie Curie is working with Care UK’s 124 homes on its approach to end of life care, including evaluating current training and practice, and provide support to home managers to enhance resilience among team members.
The charity will also be on hand for care home colleagues who need a space to share, reflect and learn, with the opportunity to speak to Marie Curie experts about any aspect of end of life care.
In homes affected by coronavirus, Marie Curie will provide support to the entire care home team via the Marie Curie Professional Companions programme.
Marie Curie will also provide recommendations about additional support that might develop and reassure care home teams in the future.
The charity’s report and recommendations on its findings is expected to be presented to the Care UK directors later this year.
“As a charity, Marie Curie’s mission is to improve the experience of dying, death and bereavement for all. We provide direct end of life care in communities across the UK, but we will make greater impact in our mission by working with organisations that have a delivery role in end of life care,” said deputy director of national programmes Eamon O’Kane.
“We have experience, resources and services that can help the care home sector and welcome the approach from Care UK. Working together ensures patients, residents and carers will ultimately benefit from the best end of life experience,” he added.
Care UK said its staff had risen to the Covid challenge during the past seven months in ways that would have been “unimaginable” a year ago.
“Their courage to keep on going to work, day in day out, to deliver great care and to support each other has been something we are incredibly proud of,” added HR director Leah Queripel.
“We know that extraordinary grit and determination has, in some case, taken its toll on people and I hope that working with Marie Curie will help our teams in that position to move forward.”
