We have a vision for the people of Birmingham and Solihull.

 

End of life care for all of our diverse communities which enables patients and their loved ones to access care in their chosen setting, in a planned and pro-actively supported way.

This page has been co-designed to give people, carers and families across Birmingham and Solihull information, helpful resources and guidance to support with the effective care of patients at the end of their lives.

  • We aim to improve access to care services at the end of life  by increasing the identification of people who are in the last year of life. 

  • We aim to support patients to remain independent for as long as possible in their chosen setting.  

  • We aim to work together to deliver high quality care. 

  • We aim to provide information regarding available end of life services which is accessible to all of our communities.

  • We aim to reduce unnecessary hospital admissions for patients.

  • We aim to support patient to die with dignity in their chosen setting.

  • We aim to support our workforce with access to high quality guidance, education resources and health and wellbeing support.

As the Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care System (ICS) we are working together across local NHS providers, Birmingham City Council, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, voluntary and faith organisations to provide services which provide quality, joined up end of life care to the people of Birmingham and Solihull. You can read more about the Integrated Care System here.

Effective advance care planning is a process to support decision making for the person and their loved ones as they approach the end of life.

The aim of advanced care planning is to enable the person’s preferences and choices regarding future medical and nursing care to be discussed, planned and written down, so that medical and nursing services can pro-actively support the individual and their loved ones. 

Please see the How advanced care planning can support you section for further information and resources.

The video below, produced by Macmillan Cancer Support, gives you more information on the benefits of advanced care planning.

In Birmingham and Solihull, we have identified unequal access to end of life information and services across the communities we serve. There is often stigma attached to be being diagnosed with a life-limiting illness, which can result in people being less likely to access available services.

We will work with all of our communities in Birmingham and Solihull to:

  • Ensure there is equity of access to culturally and spiritually appropriate end of life care.
  • Value the unique differences of our population.

Contact the team

If you need further support or have queries relating to end of life care, please get in touch with our Frailty Team via email.