Case study:

11 May 2010

Service maps in end of life care in NHS Tower Hamlets: 1. Adult services 2. Children’s services

Key points

NHS Tower Hamlets has created two maps that provide a visual depiction of local end of life care services for adults and children in the borough.

The finished maps identify all the Tower Hamlets services that are involved in end of life care – private, voluntary, independent, health and social services and the public sector. They also show how services link with each other and clarify each service’s involvement in end of life care.

Their value has been demonstrated at palliative operational and commissioning board meetings for both children and adults where they provide a structure for sharing, clarifying and challenging services.They also allow service managers to reflect on the end of life care services they are offering.

The trust adopted two separate approaches to help create the service maps. First, it conducted a retrospective review of deceased adults’ and children’s notes to track their contact with services. This gave invaluable data on service use.

The second approach involved gathering information from service reports and interviews with service managers. These led onto further interviews and telephone searches. The complex picture of services that resulted, particularly for adult end of life care, required design creativity to highlight all the service connections.

The maps have continued to be used in different commissioning workstreams such as The Marie Curie Delivering Choice Programme and long-term conditions planning, including COPD and neurological conditions. They will also be a key element of Tower Hamlets’ service redesign in relation not only to end of life care but also wider palliative care service development.