Abstract

The cancer story is changing, by 2020, almost one in two people will get cancer and 47% of those who died that year will have had cancer. We are reminded that choice at the end of life is so important and Macmillan wants everyone to have more choice.

This session looks at the Macmillan Specialist care at Home partnership approach to providing palliative care to people in the community. It’s based on the successful model developed in Midhurst where people experienced less frequent A and E attendances, decreased hospital stays and a majority of people died in their preferred place. Macmillan have since identified and supported six innovation centres that have adopted this model.

Each centre has adopted the model of person-centred care, which emphasises principles such as having a consultant led multidisciplinary team – doctors, nurses, clinical nurse specialist, occupational therapist, physiotherapists and counsellors; flexible teamwork between specialists, generalists and trained volunteers in the community. This has enabled timely referral, home-based clinical interventions and close, flexible collaboration between primary care and other community-based services. Each centre is working in partnership with many different partners such as commissioners of end of life care, community/hospital providers and hospices.

The philosophy that makes the Macmillan Specialist Care at Home approach so successful is to ensure that the person and their families feel well supported and they receive personalised, coordinated care and this session will showcase some of the findings of this project.