New advanced specialist practitioner role to support care home residents
Our palliative care service will be working in partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support over the next three years to support local care home residents with palliative care needs.
The new advanced specialist practitioner post, funded by Macmillan Cancer Support, will help to identify people with palliative care needs who live in a care home in Barnsley with a focus on care planning to make sure that residents’ preferences and wishes are met.
Katie Yockney will take up the post and comes with a wealth of experience having worked as a Macmillan Nurse for many years, and most recently as the practice educator with Barnsley’s end of life care team.
Closely working with local care homes, neighbourhood teams, GPs and hospital colleagues, Katie will offer people personalised care plans which will inform and guide care home staff and other health care professionals.
The advanced specialist practitioner pilot will be rolled out across various care homes in Barnsley over the next three years.
Katie said: “My new role will mean that care home residents’ needs will be identified earlier, meaning that people get the right care by the right people in the right place.
“The specialist knowledge that my role will bring will also increase the confidence of care home staff when caring for residents with palliative care needs, and will hopefully reassure and comfort residents and their families ensuring optimum care is provided in accordance with their wishes.”
Sue Clarke, Macmillan partnership manager, added: “We’re delighted to fund this new role of Macmillan advanced specialist practitioner in Barnsley. Katie will be using her expertise, alongside a range of professionals, to support care home residents with complex needs.
“This will include having meaningful conversations about what’s important to them; ensuring the right services are brought together to create a personalised care plan.”
Macmillan Cancer Support’s local service user representative Nicola Speight said: “As someone who has experienced Macmillan’s support it has been a pleasure and a privilege to be involved in the selection process for new Macmillan advanced practitioner for palliative care in care homes.
“For me, one aspect of the role will be to identify the training needs of staff delivering care in care homes in Barnsley.
“I believe that if staff have the knowledge and confidence to be able to deliver this care effectively, based on each individual patients wishes and needs, the patient experience will be one that ourselves or our loved ones would wish for if we were in a similar situation.”
