The Cornwall End of Life Education Group was formed by representatives from Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Cornwall Hospice Care, Kernow Health CIC and representatives from our independent community care providers. The group set out to address the education needs of the healthcare workforce across Cornwall in relation to end of life care.
Our challenge was to develop and deliver high quality, accessible education for staff that are committed to delivering excellence in care to patients at the end of life. The education group recognised the considerable difficulties faced by staff in trying to access education and training.
The nature of Cornwall’s geography can make attendance at training events and study days expensive and time consuming, making them prohibitive for some. In an attempt to respond to these educational challenges the group set about taking advantage of the excellent department of health e-learning for health (e-LfH) end of life care (e-ELCA) sessions by constructing a local learning path of face to face and e-learning.
It was decided from the outset that the learning path should be available across the entire health and social care community. As such it has been developed to guide and support staff working in both primary, secondary and social care. The electronic learning path is supported by a hand held passport which provides a platform for discussion and evidence of the learning achieved. In addition to this there is a programme of face to face education sessions available locally.