A day in the life of Katie Gooda, Palliative Discharge Case Manager
For Dying Matters Awareness Week we spoke to Katie Gooda, Clinical Specialist Occupational Therapist who started working last December as a Palliative Discharge Case Manager to support end-of-life discharges, particularly on our Fast-Track Discharge Pathway.
“I work across the Specialist Palliative Care Team (SPCT) and the Integrated Discharge Team (IDT) to ensure patients are discharged smoothly, with minimal delays wherever possible,” said Katie.
“Because of my experience on the Oncology/Haematology ward, Mulbarton, I had already worked with many end-of-life patients and was familiar with the palliative discharge process, so I felt that I could put my skills to good use.
“My new role is helping to streamline and co-ordinate the discharge process: I oversee all the patients in the hospital who are on a palliative discharge pathway to make sure nothing prevents discharge at the last minute and that they have everything they need before going home. I act as that link person across the process.”
Katie supervises up to 20 palliative discharge plans each week and communicates with the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to keep things on track.
“Sue Quinton (Palliative Discharge AP) and I ensure that patients leaving the hospital have a bag of essential supplies such as pads, inco pads, mouth care sponges and a small supply of any appropriate dressings and catheter care items. We will ensure wound care charts and any other important information is provided to aid the transition to community services.
“We aim to involve families as much as possible, so they are more aware of what’s happening to their loved ones and are more prepared for their own potential role in their care.
“We also provide a yellow folder containing useful contact information, where their ReSPECT document, recent Covid-19 test result, discharge letter and community drugs chart can all be stored for easy reference.
“Recently, I have developed a ‘Fast Track Sticker’, that I am currently piloting on Mulbarton Ward; this is a simple prompt that goes into the patient’s notes and reminds the medical team to document important information to allow the discharge assessment process to begin.