Our education and research work

We carried out a practice development project with focus on how nutrition plays a key part in palliative care. With an expert dietitian in palliative care we explored our current practice through observation and undertook semi-structured interviews with staff. In order to improve nutritional care we designed and delivered an education programme for nursing and kitchen staff to ensure up to date knowledge and best practice. We also trialled the use of small ‘personal use’ fridges in patients’ rooms and increased the visibility of nutritional opportunities through an expanded snack menu. Through the project we were able to enhance the knowledge of clinical staff and promote a more person centred approach to nutrition in the hospice.

We continued to share knowledge and contribute to the development of palliative care through publications in academic journals. This year the research team achieved 28 published articles on various different issues relating to palliative care.

We had 18 oral and poster presentations at national and international conferences, including plenary lectures at large oncological conferences, allowing us to share findings from initiatives, projects and research undertaken within the hospice.

We have, in partnership with Queen Margaret University, completed our study on the use of virtual reality in a hospice setting with findings from the study highlighting the benefits for inpatients. We will be seeking additional funding opportunities to expand this research and build on our current findings. Findings from the study have been presented at national conference.

We have completed a study in a collaboration with Marie Curie Hospice in Edinburgh to better understand the reasons for admission to an inpatient hospice unit. The study also aimed to evaluate whether this was the most appropriate place of care for those patients. This research has detailed how our services are being utilised and will offer recommendations for tailoring our services to enable the people of Edinburgh and the Lothians to get the most appropriate care when they need it.

We continue to mentor and support medical and nursing students to carry out research projects at undergraduate and postgraduate level and to share and publish their findings in palliative care journals and conferences.

In partnership with Queen Margaret University, we have continued to offer graduate and postgraduate education in palliative care. This year we had 43 students within our programmes. Our learners are both working in specialist palliative care settings as well as generalist settings such as care homes, hospitals and in general practice.

We continue to provide in-house education for all our staff with our annual education programme. This year this included workshops to develop effective communication skills both for clinical staff and non-clinical staff, our annual mandatory training programme and our on-going clinical supervision programme.

We continued to build on the successful implementation of the virtual education model (ECHO) to widen access to palliative and end of life care by supporting health and social care staff who deliver palliative care in other settings, especially care homes. This year in collaboration with the Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership Team we provided further education sessions to care homes focusing on Anticipatory Care Planning processes and communication skills. We also expanded this education model to support local homeless services with delivering palliative care.

We have enabled health care professionals and students locally, nationally and internationally to gain more knowledge of palliative care issues through educational visits and short placements at the hospice. This year we were able to host 120 visitors both from UK and internationally from parts of the world such as Singapore, Iceland, Bethlehem, Uganda, Slovenia, Germany and Mexico.