45 End of life family packs in the emergency department: bridging contrasting specialities

<h3>Background</h3> The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) recognises that delivering high quality end of life care within the emergency department is invaluable but challenged by nuances of the environment. A fast-paced, crowded setting can make it difficult to achieve the multi-faceted, holistic approach recommended for patients and families. This project aimed to improve clinical staff confidence in delivering end of life care in the Emergency Department. <h3>Methods</h3> We introduced ‘End of Life Family Packs’ as a resource for the emergency department using Plan-Do-Study-Act Methodology. These are a plastic folder containing: leaflets on ‘caring for someone at the end of life’ and ‘what to expect when someone is dying’, ‘coping with the loss of a loved one’, chaplaincy, a canteen and free parking voucher and ‘forget me not’ seeds. Our primary outcome measure was staff confidence in delivering end of life care, recorded on a self-reported scale from 1 to 10. Secondary outcomes evaluated staff usage of and opinions on the packs for future PDSA cycles including quantitative and qualitative data. Data was collected via staff questionnaires over a three-day period pre and post intervention. <h3>Results</h3> Twenty-one respondents completed the pre-intervention questionnaire and nineteen completed the post-intervention questionnaire. Staff confidence in delivering end of life care to patients and families increased from a mean of 6.3 to 7.5 over 3 months. 38.5% of respondents had used a pack in the last two months and 66.7% of respondents voted that the packs had significantly improved their ability to provide end of life care. <h3>Conclusion</h3> Introduction of ‘End of Life Family Packs’ increased clinical staff confidence in delivering end of life care within the emergency department. An all-in-one pack improves efficiency in accessing resources that help facilitate holistic end of life care for patients and families in a busy clinical environment.