P-07 Compassionate neighbours: working across organisations for mutual support and innovation. (19th November 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Devlin, Jon; Naef, Emma
• Is Part Of: BMJ supportive & palliative care. Volume 12(2022)Supplement 3
• Page Start: A12
• Page End: A13
• Publication Date: 2022-11-19
• Subjects: Palliative treatment -- Periodicals; Terminal care -- Periodicals; 616.029
• DOI: 10.1136/spcare-2022-HUNC.29
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2045-435X

Abstract

Abstract : Background/Aims: Compassionate Neighbours is a social movement providing social and emotional support to people towards the end of life due to age or illness. The project was launched by St. Joseph's Hospice in June 2014. In 2018, the project was rolled out to seven other hospices throughout London and the surrounding area, to demonstrate that the model was scalable, with five additional hospices joining the family over the following years. The work has always been led by a Programme Board comprising the Chief Executives of each of the member hospices, underpinned by a Memorandum of Understanding. At an operational level, St Joseph's led the training and development of the teams within the hospices adopting the model in 2018, with subsequent hospices being supported on a buddying basis. This poster describes the self-managed operational group that has formed, supporting and developing those who are involved with delivering, developing and implementing Compassionate Neighbours programmes at each of the member organisations. Methods/Results/Conclusions: We will describe the 'Operational Group' which coalesced during the pandemic but which continues to enable individuals employed by different hospices to access mutual support. We will explore the value of technical innovations: such as using Slack as a communication tool and the creation of a CRM to support the work. We will reflect on the experiential development of each organisation's virtual training offer. The group shares innovations, such as a Salesforce CRM that was developed and showcased by one hospice, leading to others commissioning the same system so that data can be easily benchmarked in the future. We will explore the ways in which regular meetings have enabled cross-hospice volunteering. We will describe how a devolved group has supported on-boarding of new staff, during a period where organisational capacity has been challenging. We will reflect on the impact of collaboration - in particular across the hospice community - and consider the implications for Compassionate Neighbours as well as for other hospice functions.