Posted by Ray Bunn at 04/05/2013 10:43:19
The National Advisory Committee on Palliative Care, the Council of Europe, National Institute for Clinical Excellence, and the Cancer Peer Review programme have all defined staff requirements for SPC teams (page 12):
* physicians and nurses as core specialists, with physiotherapists, occupational therapists and social workers as part of the core team
* pharmacists, dieticians, lymphoedema specialists, psychologists, administrative support, chaplains or spiritual care professionals, are required as part of the team, possibly as part-time or extended team members
* given the high level of SPC involvement in education and training (both to SPC teams and to provide specialist support to general palliative care), educators, trainers, and information specialists, are often part of the SPC team.
Document link:
http://www.nelm.nhs.uk/en/NeLM-Area/News/2013---January/10/APM-issues-commissioning-guidance-for-specialist-palliative-care/
From April 2013, NHS Education for Scotland has subscribed to the on-line Palliative Care Formulary (PCF4+). The content is continually updated and represents the most current version. It is hosted on the Palliative Care Portal of the Knowledge Network website:
http://www.knowledge.scot.nhs.uk/home/portals-and-topics/palliativecare.aspx
It is available free of charge to those with an NHS Education Scotland ATHENS username and password.
