How Mary Ann Evans hospice has worked with Children North East and other palliative care services in North Warwickshire to ‘poverty proof’ their services.
As part of Warwickshire County’s strategy to tackle social inequalities, the county has worked with Children North East to ‘poverty proof’ their palliative care services.
As many palliative care staff as possible were invited to a session covering the root causes and impact of poverty. Staff were given the opportunity to share their views on barriers to engagement and access.
Scoping exercise
Children North East observed the palliative care services provided in North Warwickshire. They had discussions with staff and explored processes to discover the impact of poverty on service users.
Consultation with users
Children North East spoke to patients and carers on a one-to-one basis, using semi-structured interviews to understand their experiences.
Check on referral forms whether patients need support with transport to access services.
Signpost patients and carers to local organisations who may be able to help with transport. Make sure this information is universally available.
Produce a list of pharmacies in the local area to help patients and carers build up knowledge about who can help them with what. This should limit unnecessary travel.
Keep a list of taxi services that would charge less for patients who need to access palliative services.
Ask more questions about financial circumstances during assessment, for example what benefits patients receive, whether they have access to a blue badge etc. Where possible, carry this out as part of a home visit.
Make sure staff understand the importance of offering financial support through ongoing induction and training processes.
Upskill staff on entitlements to tax rebates or additional benefits that are available to help patients and families pay for extra costs.
Collate a list of local organisations, including financial advisors, funeral directors and will-writing services, who could offer families discounts and support.
Consider publishing this list as a page on your hospice’s website, as well as creating a printable leaflet that staff can give to patients.
Develop a hybrid model of delivery that allows service users and their families the choice to access healthcare appointments, peer support groups / classes and financial support appointments online.
Carry out user group consultations to understand engagement preferences and access to digital devices.
Consider what community support is available to help people access digital services, for example if local libraries have free internet access or a free loan service for tablets.
Consider making the helpline free for patients and carers to access.
Build up a directory of community groups that patients can access for free in the local area.
Explore apps that can offer translation services.
Use social media and other communication channels to raise awareness of the financial support available to patients and carers.
Translate leaflets about financial support into the main languages spoken in the area and make them available in local communities.
Add a statement to letters, leaflets and other communications asking people to get in touch if they need financial support.
The team have discussed the report with Coventry and Warwick Integrated Care Board (ICB) and the local palliative care network. The ICB have reviewed the outcomes of the project as part of the development of their palliative and end of life strategy for 2024-29.
The palliative care network has agreed to develop a shared tool to help make sure financial circumstances are included in initial assessments. They are also developing a directory of local organisations so that patients and families can be signposted to appropriate support.
