Background Prospect Hospice strives for excellent end-of-life care for everyone. We also recognise that we cannot meet everyone with a life-limiting illness in our community. A key activity for us is to improve the recognition and understanding across Swindon of the importance of end-of-life care. After the National Council for Palliative Care launched the Dying Matters Dying Well Community Charter (DWCC) in 2015, we joined with local organisations to create our own Swindon Charter.

Aims To improve support and understanding for anyone affected by end-of-life care in the workplace.

Methods With partners, Healthwatch, the CCG, Great Western Hospital, Swindon Carers Centre and Swindon Borough Council we:

• Surveyed local people on what was important to them.

• Held a launch conference.

• Created print and social media activity and presentations.

• Created a set of offers and asks of local organisations.

• Promoted the Charter on the local authority-sponsored My Care My Support website.

• Undertook targeted engagement activity with employers to secure sign-up and implement the charter in their workplace.

Results In May 2016, nearly 90 people from local employers, health and social care organisations and community groups attended a launch conference to learn about our charter. We then targeted local employers to agree actions and activities to promote the Charter asking for commitment to two activities to make a difference, such as:

• Creating a Bereavement/Compassionate leave policy.

• Reviewing policies and procedures to reflect the aims of the Charter.

• Creating flexibility in the workplace and demonstrate how this was achieved.

• Signposting to useful external advice and the support the employer offers.

• Promoting the My Care My Support website.

• Nominating a single point of contact for key information.

Currently 17 organisations, with a combined reach of 12 000 people, have signed up to the Charter, implementing various changes across the workplace to make a real difference, and we have only just begun!