St Giles Hospice Quality Account 2018/2019 St Giles Hospice 2018-19 Quality Account | Page 8

4. Priorities for improvement 2019/20
4.1 Patients of the Future
How was this identified as
a priority?
Our preparedness for the
changing national demographics
in our population will be critical
to ensuring we are in a position
to provide the right care to our
community in the future.
As our demographics change,
in particular people with
multiple illnesses, people with
complex symptoms at end of
life or conditions other than
cancer, we need to consider our
future service and workforce
development needs.
• T
 he number of people dying in
Staffordshire will increase from
11,126 in 2016 to 14,238 by 2039.
• A
 lthough more people are
dying it is expected that those
who die below the age of 75 will
decrease whilst the number
of people dying aged between
75 and 84 will increase by 7%
and the number of people
dying aged 85 and above will
increase by 84%.
• T
 here will be a 61% increase
in the number of people dying
of ‘frailty’, with co-morbidities
including dementia, cancer and
other palliative conditions.
• H
 ospice UK predicts that 1 in 4
people who could benefit from
hospice care do not currently
access it (this is based on
palliative conditions and does
not include frailty).
• T
 he proportion of people with
complex co-morbidities will
also increase.
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• T
 he cost of delivering our care
will increase.
• O
 ver 50% of people in South
Staffordshire are dying in
hospital which is higher than
the national average, whilst
proportionately fewer people
are dying at home.
What are we aiming to achieve?
We want to consider who the
patients of the future will be and
in what ways we could meet
their needs in an affordable and
sustainable way. This will mean
we must carefully consider the
expected and likely types of
people and their needs that we
will be caring for in the future.
Then we need to ensure that our
care services are designed in
such a way and that our workforce
has the right structure and skills
to deliver the care needed. This
includes both paid staff and
volunteers. In addition, we must
make sure that we can afford to
fund these changes as we make
them and in the longer term.
How will progress be
monitored and reported?
Over the coming year we will
produce three plans to ensure
we can achieve our overall aim; a
plan for the design of our clinical
services, one for our workforce
and one that sets out our
financial planning to support this.
How will we know what we
have achieved?
These plans and their
implementation are fundamental
to the strategy for our
organisation and will be overseen
and monitored directly by our
Board to whom we will report 3
monthly as to our progress.
4.2 Developing a new strategy
for carers and family support
How was this identified as
a priority?
Support for families and carers
has always been part of the
hospice’s care and support
and has traditionally been
included as an integral aspect
of clinical strategy. Given the
changing population there is
an ever-increasing pressure on
services with more people with
complex needs being cared for
at home. As such, carers require
support that enables them to
fulfil their caring role effectively
and maintain their own physical
and mental well-being. The
offer of support for carers is
entwined with the care of the
patient, we will look to build on
this in developing carers support
services which address the
unique needs of the carer.
A recent report from Hospice
UK (2018) has argued that there
is a need for a step change and
cultural shift among staff in
the support that is available for
carers of terminally ill people.
Feedback from families who
are engaged with the hospice
highlights that many family
members who are caring
for people at end of life do
not recognise and identify
themselves with the label of carer
– we are therefore extending our
strategy to encompass family
support and carers.