Article Text
Abstract
Background Internal education programmes are recognised to enhance staff morale, competency, and patient care (Gesme, Towle & Wiseman, 2010. J Oncol Pract. 6:104). An existing weekly education programme at Wirral Hospice St John’s was poorly attended by staff. We recognised a need for redevelopment of the existing programme, to meet the evolving situation of the COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure the ongoing delivery of safe patient care. A suggested approach to education delivery includes enhancing learning by drawing on multi-professional resources (Royal College of Physicians, 2020).
Aims Our aim was to develop a multi-professional internal education programme, which recognised the challenges faced by professionals working within a busy healthcare setting.
Methods A review of the existing teaching programme was undertaken. A staff survey requested feedback on the existing programme and obtained suggestions for improvement. There was recognition from the survey that there was a need for a better quality but less frequent education programme, which was more accessible for staff.
Results Since September 2021, a monthly education event has been delivered to staff at an accessible time. The session is well-advertised and is delivered virtually to extend its reach. The newly developed programme has been successful in improving attendance across all professions and is accessed by hospice, community, and hospital teams. This collaborative approach across settings has enhanced the quality of multi-professional debate, which has improved learning and has strengthened relationships across the wider team. Feedback has highlighted an improvement in meeting the learning needs of attendees.
Conclusions The redevelopment of a local education programme has been successful in improving staff attendance, meeting the learning needs of attendees, and enhancing the reach of education across settings. Moving forwards, the programme will link into a newly developed ‘Wirral Palliative Care Education Hub’, which launches in June 2022.