Managing crises at the end of life: Responsibility, welfare & choice

Managing crises at the end of life: Responsibility, welfare & choice

Date:  13 September 2012

Location: Avonmouth House, 6 Avonmouth Street, London, SE1 6NX

Programme: To view the full event programme please click here.

Register: Please click here to register for this event.

Attendance at this event is worth 5 CPD credits.

Why this conference?

There are still too many cases of professionals across settings feeling under-prepared and under-confident in dealing with end of life care crisis situations. The National Council for Palliative Care (NCPC) regularly hears from people approaching the end of life, carers and former carers of the devastating impact this can have on people’s experiences of care, death and bereavement. As well as the emotional cost, crisis situations poorly managed have a financial cost too, particularly where they result in unnecessary emergency admissions to hospital.

This national conference will tackle some of these issues head-on. The conference will be a highly interactive plenary style discussion, with an expert panel and chair to facilitate.

Topics for discussion

Maintaining hope and managing expectations

“How do I shift the conservation from curative to palliative?” “Is it ever right to withhold information about someone’s condition from someone?” “What is in the best interests of the person?” “What do I do when the interests of the carer conflict with the interests of the person approaching the end of life?”

Implanting and deactivating devices

“How and when do I have the conversation about deactivating an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD)?” “Whose responsibility is it to discuss this and at what stage should it happen? Implantation? End of life?”

Attempting or not attempting resuscitation

“How do I discuss resuscitation with someone who is approaching the end of life and their carers?” “How do I make sure the person’s wishes are known and met?” “What do I do in the event that the person is not able to make their wishes known?”

These scenarios require a delicate mix of careful decision-making, excellent communication skills and an understanding of the law. This conference aims to equip you with the confidence and skills to deal with these scenarios going forward.

This conference will...

      - Improve confidence and empower staff in contact with those approaching the end of life to talk more openly and make decisions in advance that avoid crisis later
      - Highlight the key issues and levers commissioners and decision makers should look out for in ensuring that people approaching the end of life in their populations have a positive experience of care
     - Enable people with good and bad experiences of end of life care to share their story and improve services for people in the future

Who should attend?

-      Frontline staff and end of life care providers: ambulance crew, GPs, district and community nurses, care homes, extra care, sheltered and other housing staff, domiciliary staff, those who work in specialist palliative care, heart and stroke networks, voluntary groups, and hospitals.

-      Commissioners and decision-makers: Clinical Commissioning Groups, Health & Wellbeing Boards, Ambulance Trusts, civil servants

-      Academics from palliative care, medical ethics, law and beyond

-      People with personal experience of end of life care (service users, carers and former carers)

Expert panellists include:

Richard Huxtable,Chair of NCPC’s Ethics Forum and Reader in Medical Ethics and Law & Deputy Director of the Centre for Ethics in Medicine, University of Bristol
Vicky Robinson, Consultant Nurse, Palliative Care, Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Dr Karen Hogg, Consultant Cardiologist, Glasgow Royal Infirmary & Golden Jubilee National Heart Hospital, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde
Dr David Pitcher, Consultant Cardiologist, University Hospital Birmingham; Chairman, Resuscitation Council (UK)
Dr Rob George, Professor of Palliative Care, Cicely Saunders Institute, KCL; Clinical Lead Palliative & End of Life Care, NHS London; Consultant Palliative Care Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Sam Shunmoogum, person with ICD, and his wife, Rosaline

To view a full programme for the event please click here.

Delegate rates: £150 for NCPC Subcribers
                             £300 for Non-Subscribers

For more information, or to register for this event please contact Kate McNaboe (k.mcnaboe@ncpc.org.uk or 020 7697 1520).

Alternatively, print off the event programme and return the completed booking form to Kate McNaboe at the details provided.