We’re so proud to share that one of our consultants has been involved in a nationwide study into the impact of COVID-19 on end of life care.
Dr Nadia Khan attended an event in London to launch a report on the lasting effects of COVID-19 on death, dying and bereavement.
As a Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Dr Khan was asked to give evidence about her experience of the pandemic while working at the hospice.
The report was carried out by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Hospice and End of Life Care and is dedicated to Jack Dromey MP – the APPG’s former co-chair who sadly died during the course of the review. Mr Dromey was the MP for Erdington and a passionate supporter of the hospice.
The key findings were summarised at a launch event in February which emphasised the importance of the report and highlighted the actions going forward for policy makers, Integrated Care Boards, Acute Trusts, healthcare providers and hospices.
From the report, four recommendations were given. Firstly, funding must be provided for the services the population needs; secondly, help needs to be given to people recovering from the impacts of COVID-19; thirdly, support and training should be made available for staff delivering palliative and end of life care; and lastly, it is vital that lessons from the pandemic are learned.
Dr Khan gave evidence to the APPG about the experience of the pandemic as a member of a hospice’s medical team. She also described the personal impact of the pandemic on grief and bereavement on behalf of Muslim communities.
“These reports are vital to bring the lived experiences of individual people and their loved ones facing the end of life into view of the decision makers at parliamentary level, who then set the course of direction nationally,” Dr Khan said.
“The pandemic is, hopefully, a once-in-a-lifetime experience for this generation, but by putting end of life care in the spotlight, we should grasp the opportunity to fundamentally improve and lift the standards of end of life care for everyone.”
