The CovPall care homes survey is now open for senior members of staff within care homes in the UK!

COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on care homes, their residents and families, and staff. Over 42,000 care home residents in England have died from COVID-19 between March 2020 and April 2021. Many more have experienced symptoms and distress. Palliative care is an essential component of the pandemic response, but there has been limited examination of palliative and end-of-life care provision in care homes during COVID-19, or strategies to improve this. 

We are recruiting senior staff within care homes to complete a brief survey detailing their experiences of palliative care in care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey explores the challenges and innovations in providing palliative care during this difficult time. The findings will inform future policy priorities on providing palliative care in care homes. We have already heard from Department of Health Social Care that the study will provide essential data to guide policy.

We will conduct follow up interviews with identified care home managers to investigate further the difficulties faced and how these were managed. The information gathered will be invaluable in providing guidance to strengthen palliative care provision in future pandemic peaks and after the pandemic.

The survey can be found here and further information regarding this study here. Survey respondents will be entered into a prize draw to receive a £100 voucher!

The “CovPall Care Homes” study is led by Prof Katherine Sleeman and Dr Catherine Evans from King’s College London, and funded by the National Institute of Health Research.