title: Creating capacity through partnership: a palliative care skills development programme.
abstract: This paper presents the development and implementation of a recurrently funded, rolling, 6-month palliative care secondment programme for NHS community staff nurses based in a rural health economy in Southwest England. The programme is a key tool in a wider development plan for improving access to, and the quality of, palliative and end-of-life care for a dispersed rural population. This is part of a much bigger programme of integration to meet the shared challenges of service capacity, equity, and sustainability that are presented by the geographical and demographical profile of the locality. The 'bigger picture' is defined and set in the context of the national drive and evidence base for integration in order to explain the reasons behind the secondment programme. This is followed by outlining the iterative process of design and implementation--the 'what?' and 'how?'--and key learning points to date are shared.
authors.affiliation: Assistant Director of Patient Services, Weldmar Hospicecare Trust, Dorset, England.
authors.forename: Kay
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kelsall
authors.affiliation: Community Staff Nurse, Shaftesbury District Nurse Team, Dorset Health Care University NHS Foundation Trust, England.
authors.forename: Ebony
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Brennan
authors.affiliation: Locality Manager (North Dorset), Blandford Community Hospital, Dorset Health Care University NHS Foundation Trust, England.
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cole
mesh_terms: D003152:Community Health Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D004509:Education, Nursing, Continuing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004739:England; D006801:Humans; D064691:Nurses, Community Health / Q000193:education*; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D016730:Program Development; D055818:Public-Private Sector Partnerships / Q000458:organization & administration*; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013222:State Medicine / Q000458:organization & administration*
keywords: Education; Integration; Palliative care nursing; Partnership; Rural health