Teamwork is the key to building bridges

The success of Building Bridges - Supporting Care, which is led by former cancer nurse Liz Smith and learning disability specialist Allison O'Donnell, means it is now likely to be extended across Scotland.

ANN FOTHERINGHAM reports …

THERE is an impressive body of experience around the table in the hospice boardroom.

Between them, the team of palliative care nurses and learning disability specialists have clocked up more than 85 years in their respective and, up until now, separate fields.

"We have been crying out for something like this for a long time," says Laura Cameron, 56, a learning disabilities clinical team leader, who has worked in the community for 27 years.

"Just being able to work together as a team has made a huge difference."

Building Bridges - Supporting Care is a partnership project between all six hospices and nine learning disability teams in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

It began as a small pilot project, instigated by Liz Smith, a former cancer nurse working in education at the Prince And Princess Of Wales Hospice.

Just over a year later, it has attracted UK-wide attention, winning the PCPLD's (Palliative Care for People with Learning Disabilities) prestigious Linda McEnhill Award.

Judges, who presented the award to Liz and learning disability specialist Allison O'Donnell this week, praised their "sustained, multi-faceted approach to collaborative working" and the scope and geographical spread of the project.

Support from the Scottish Government means that by 2015, other parts of the country could also benefit from the service.

"We are really pleased by the response to the project," says Liz.

"When we did our first investigations, we found there was a gap in care - that people with learning disabilities were dying much sooner than the general population. So, after securing funding from the Scottish Government and Help The Hospices (the national charity for the hospice movement), the project was set up."

The number of people aged over 60 with a learning disability is increasing and is expected to rise a further 36% by 2021.

As the majority of people with learning disabilities can now expect to live a near normal lifespan, it follows they can expect to encounter all the diseases associated with ageing, including life­-limiting illnesses requiring palliative care.

Liz adds: "People with learning disabilities should have the same choices as anyone else around their end of life care."

Morag Macdonald, 54, trained in learning disability nursing but has worked in palliative care for 33 years.

Now a staff nurse at the Marie Curie Hospice, Stobhill, Morag says: "One of the strengths of this project is the way it has helped all of us grow in confidence. Before, we were working in isolation.

"We are both gaining a much better understanding of each other's worlds. For example, we recently met a patient with Down's syndrome who has cancer. Because we were working together to support the family, they felt comfortable enough to talk through all aspects of the treatment and planning, including the funeral."

Pamela Dalrymple, 40, a community palliative care nurse with the Accord Hospice, Paisley, for more than 11 years, agrees. She says: "The key to the whole project has been collaborative working - sharing information, talking to each other and being able to support each other."

Karen Mowat, 46, a learning disabilities community nurse with 15 years' experience, says: "By bringing the teams together, you are helping patients and improving outcomes, and that is what is at the heart of the whole project."

Earlier in the year, a conference, organised by Liz and Allison, was attended by 80 delegates from around the UK.

Its chairwoman, Linda McEnhill, who is manager of family support services at the Prince And Princess Of Wales Hospice and social care lead for Help The Hospices' national care and support team, described Liz and Allison as a "powerhouse, fuelled by passion".

The two women are quick to pay tribute to professionals working in the community.

"It has been fantastic to see the project grow and we are really proud of what has been achieved," says Allison. "But its success is due to the hard work by the teams 'on the ground', and it has been great to see them grow in confidence and develop skills.

"There is a lot of great work being done in learning disabilities services and this is just a small part of that."

Liz agrees: "Patients are at the heart of what we are doing, that is what has driven us. We recognised there was a gap in the care being offered to people with learning disabilities, and it is great to see that gap shrinking."

ann.fotheringham@ eveningtimes.co.uk