Work Packages 6 and 7 - Project Co-ordination, Management and Dissemination including International Development of the Liverpool Care Pathway for the Dying Patient (LCP)
WP Leads: Professor John Ellershaw and Ms Deborah Murphy
The Marie Curie Palliative Care Institute Liverpool (MCPCIL) is at the forefront of research, education and clinical practice in care in the last days of life. One of the main programmes currently running within the Institute is the Liverpool Care Pathway for the Dying Patient (LCP). The successful development and expansion of this programme both nationally and internationally has led to the development of a variety of skills and resources that have positive implications for the success of this collaborative project. For example, current Institute personnel have a wealth of experience in co-ordinating the roll out of the LCP that was promoted by the UK government in 2006 (DH, 2006). At the present time, the Institute co-ordinates a nationwide programme of education that was accessed by almost 3,500 healthcare professionals from across the UK in 2006. The LCP framework education is delivered via a series of national study days and a conference specifically developed and facilitated by Institute staff to support the implementation of the LCP.
The team are currently involved in the development of a 'toolkit' of resources to underpin implementation. The Institute Evaluations Unit has offered statistical support via the analysis and feedback of audit results at two key points during the implementation process - prior to and after the first 20 LCPs have been used - to over 1,000 individual organisations engaged with the programme nationally and internationally. This team are currently planning a third round of a national nudit of care of the dying in collaboration with the Royal College of Physicians and involving data from 120 hospitals.
The Institute portfolio of research currently includes such diverse projects as :
- longitudinal evaluation of the medical undergraduate curriculum for palliative care
- development of a questionnaire to assess the view of informal carers of care in the last days of life
- action research projects to develop the LCP for use in cardiac failure, renal failure, paediatrics and ITU
- three national projects to implement the LCP in BUPA Care Homes
- Service delivery and organisation - assessing the impact of the LCP in nursing homes and ICU