New resource supports people and communities to influence local health plans on end of life care

Hospice UK has released a new resource aimed at supporting people and communities to work with Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships (STPs) to achieve excellent end of life care locally.

Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships (STPs) are part of the new way in which local NHS organisations and councils are working together in England to improve NHS services and outcomes for people in their area.

They are not statutory organisations, but local partnerships, with 44 of them covering the whole of England.

They are developing plans to improve people’s health and wellbeing, care and quality and better use of resources through partnership working and harnessing new technologies.

The resource is designed to be easy to use and provides practical information about the things that people and their communities can do to support the development and implementation of the local plans.

These include contacting your local Healthwatch to find out what steps they are taking, or contacting your local STP directly or attending local events to discuss their plans (details of which can be found on your local STP website).

The resource also suggests some questions to put to STP leads and local leaders about end of life care in your area, and signposts to the Government’s National Commitment on End of Life Care and the Ambitions Framework for Palliative and End of Life Care as two key documents that can help STP leads and others local leaders decide their priorities.

The resource was developed in partnership with NHS England and can be used alongside the End of Life Care STP Data Tool, which was recently developed by Public Health England, NHS England and the Care Quality Commission.

You can visit NHS England’s website for more information about STPs.