Education - How we responded to the national crisis

Of course Lockdown meant the majority of face to face events, scheduled to take place at the Hospice Education Centre, had to be postponed.

My role went from leading a varied education schedule on site and in the community, to a complete re-think of our offer to meet the rapidly growing learning needs of professionals providing end of life care. 

The speed of change was rapid.

It went from coordinating the team to relocate and work from home, to adapting roles to take on new responsibilities.

At the same time. I became aware of the increasing need for education out in our local community.

It was vital to be able to respond as soon as possible and liaising with the right colleagues quickly was key, and initially a lot of the work was done over the phone off site.

This close partnership working meant we gained a clear understanding of the increasing learning needs as they emerged day by day.

More and more professionals were being redeployed from their usual roles to provide care to people with Covid-19 as services were remodelled to meet the growing need.

Sadly, a lot of this was end of life care and this was where our expertise and experience could help and be part of the local and national response to the crisis.

We needed to make sure that everyone was equipped and supported to provide this care with skill and compassion.

Providing such teaching, within the community hospitals, has been in small groups with all the measures in place to keep everyone safe.

Some teaching has been via eLearning and designing and launching the tools was achieved within days, all reflecting the most up to date national guidance.

I'm writing this at a time when the lockdown measures are being gradually eased, but of course this work will carry on as the learning need hasn't gone away, nor has the need for this care. 

The Hospice is facing a funding crisis for the first time in its 35 year history.

Please help local people who need our care by visiting sfh.org.uk.