STARS project
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Hospital, Home or Hospice: A case study evaluation of end of life care provided to children & young people in Cheshire & Merseyside.
IRAS ID
178574
Contact name
Katherine Knighting
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
The study will retrospectively explore the experience of end of life care delivered to children and their families across Cheshire and Merseyside in three settings (hospital, home and hospice) from the perspective of the families and professionals involved.
The study will include exploration of any plans used to provide optimal care for children and their families including Advance Care Planning (ACP) and the Rapid Discharge Plan for Children (RDP-C). The ACP is used to provide information and guidance on the best way to provide care for the dying child and to support the child and family’s wishes. The document provides a framework for discussions with the child and family about choices for end of life and is a record of the decisions made.
The RDP-C has been a collaborative development by the North West Children & Young People’s Palliative Care Clinical Network (NWCPCCN) and North West Ambulance Service. The RDP-C is a multi-professional model of care that aims to facilitate the coordination of a rapid discharge from hospital to home or hospice within a governance and risk management framework. RDP-Cs are used in the North West to promote effective communication and collaboration across organisation and geographical boundaries in the region. The RDP-C can facilitate choice in the place of end of life care for children and young people with life-limiting illness when their families have expressed a wish for their child to die at home or in hospice.The case study perspective will provide new insight into the experiences and meaning of end of life care for all involved and highlight what practices constitute best supportive care for children and families in these different settings; making an important contribution to current understanding of how end of life care and the death of a child is experienced by families and professionals.
REC name
North West - Preston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/NW/0417
Date of REC Opinion
19 May 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion