Most deaths in Australia occur in hospitals.  In recognition, the updated National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards incorporates the ‘Comprehensive Care Standard’ (CCS) which primary aims to improve the quality of end-of-life care in hospitals. End-of-Life Essentials (EOLE) is a Commonwealth funded project aiming to improve the skill, knowledge and confidence of the Australian hospital workforce and freely provides a range of education, training, accreditation, practice change and audit resources.

Aim

To identify ways in which EOLE can engage, promote and assist hospitals to meet the End-of-Life Care Actions within the CCS and improve the provision of end-of-life care.

Methods

EOLE hosted 3 national strategic accreditation workshops in collaboration with the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. Participants included quality and risk managers, clinical staff, clinical educators, and managers. 

Results

A pre-workshop survey received n=58 responses. Of these, n=51 had undergone accreditation against the CCS. Pre-workshop survey results provided information on services’ engagement with EOLE resources, which CCS End-of-Life Care Actions are most difficult to meet (and why), use of performance indicators and other resources used to support accreditation. The survey provided information on workshop content in order to meet the needs of attendees. Workshops were held online in November 2022 with n=34 attendees from around Australia.

Discussion

Attendees discussed and shared strategies and evidence used to support accreditation and assessment to the CCS (End-of-Life Care Actions). A post-workshop summary has been disseminated, a survey administered, and presentations posted on the website, providing more resources for the sector regarding practice change and meeting the NSQHS Standards.

Conclusion

These workshops not only inform the work of the EOLE project, but also assist in engagement with the sector and allow for exchange of ideas, promotion of quality and safe end-of-life care and issues in the hospital sector.