PITY II - Bereavement Care Pathway Services

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Bereavement Care Pathway Services

from: Royal Liverpool Children's NHS Trust

Since the publication of the Royal Liverpool Children's Inquiry Report on 31 January 2001, the Royal Liverpool Children's NHS Trust has worked with the Child Bereavement Trust to fund, jointly, a new post of Bereavement Care Co-ordinator. The person who filled this post has been charged with the responsibility to review the way in which bereavement services are provided in the Trust and to bring about changes in the way parents and relatives are supported through this difficult time.

The work is now well underway with a clear guiding principle that change must include staff and parent involvement. A careful examination of current bereavement support practice has been undertaken. The work included the identification of existing good practice such as the child death helpline. This helpline is staffed by parents whose children have died and forms part of the work undertaken in the Alder Centre. Existing good practice is being integrated into the new service and more widely within the Trust.

The bereavement service is aiming to empower staff to fulfil their support role as effectively as possible and to meet the very different needs of individual families as and when they want support. The Bereavement Care Co-ordinator is facilitating Trust staff by ensuring they are able to work with revised documentation and protocols and ensuring they have up to date information available for families. The service aims to ensure that support is offered in a co-ordinated and sensitive way and that families are able to feel involved in any discussions which are taken at that time. Through the development 0f a Bereavement Care Pathway we are now able to bring together the elements of bereavement services available to families. A training programme for staff to support the Bereavement Care Pathway is underway, the co-ordinator is working closely with the Training and Development department within the Trust to gain accreditation.

Bereavement support workers are due to be employed to consolidate the service. Their role will be central to ensuring the effectiveness of supporting and communicating with families, Trust staff and other relevant outside agencies. These workers will have extensive experience in communicating with families in situations of impending loss and bereavement. They will have a thorough knowledge of Trust and relevant NHS systems also.

The service has been designed to take account of developments which are occurring, at the same time, in pathology practice, the Coroner's service and in patient advocacy.
During the recent examination of the Trust by the Commission for Health Improvement (CHI) the bereavement care pathway was identified as "Notable Practice" which should be shared within the wider NHS.

The Trust belief in the importance of this work has resulted in resources being prioritised to create and further develop the service.

The Serious Incident Project board, which was set up in April 2000 to inform the way Organ Retention matters where handled within the Trust, has been superceded by the Bereavement Partnership Group. This group also has parent representatives, as did the Serious Incident Project Board.

Kate Jackson, Associate Director, 5 December 2002

PITY II (Parents who have Interred Their Young Twice) is the parents' support group set up in the wake of the organ retention scandal
at Alder Hey Hospital (Liverpool, UK). It aims to provide self help support and advice to affected families.

Keywords: PITY II, pity II, pity ii, PITY 2, PITY2, pity 2, pity2, Never Again, never again, DNA, Myrtle Street, poem, poetry, honouring the memory, memorial, Law Reform, Liverpool, liverpool, organ, retention, alder hey, heart, inquiry, Redfern, redfern, scandal, support, children, Retained Organs Commission, ROC, coroners, Litigation & Mediation