Case study:

11 May 2010

Dying with dignity in a chosen environment in East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust

---

Key points

---

Essex Locality of the East of England Ambulance Service was able to provide the resources needed to allow a terminally ill teenage girl to die in her own home.

It was initially contacted by the local PCT, which was concerned at the lack of specialist knowledge in the Out Of Hours Service and its apparent inability to manage a child from a travellers’ community with a terminal condition.

Miss A was a 14-year-old with end stage acute myeloid leukaemia, who had chosen to die at home.

As the ambulance service provided an out of hours district nursing service to another neighbouring area, and had the expertise in district nurse palliative care management, it seemed reasonable to expand its area of operation to provide the cover.

As a result members of the ambulance staff liaised with the child and her family and helped her plan her last days in a relaxed and pain-free environment.

This included spending a considerable length of time forging a relationship between the patient, carers and family who had some initial misgivings about their involvement.

Miss A died four days after they became involved, surrounded by family and friends.

Despite the sadness at the loss of someone so young, the ambulance and Out of Hours services were able to provide the necessary support to the patient and family at the time of need.

Moreover, now it has been done once it can be done again.

The ambulance service had previously encountered difficulties when responding to emergencies on this site, and often only entered with police protection.

But as a result of this intervention a better understanding now exists between the service and the travelling community.

‘This patient received the Gold Standard to which we all aspire,’ commented Adrian Maasz from East of England Ambulance.

‘And do you know what? It wasn’t that difficult to arrange.’

---

Back to top