Friday 10 January 2014

A follow-up bereavement service: ‘completing the patient pathway’

Bereavement Care, December 2013, Vol/iss 32/3 (104-110)
Deborah Ford; Derek Fraser; Keith Morrison

The article describes an initiative, The Bereavement Care Follow up Service (BCFS) in Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust which offers brief intervention and support for relatives following the death of a loved one in hospital.  It presents its historical context, its pertinence to grief theory and practice and gives a description and evaluation of the service. The service provides an alternative, less problem-centred pathway to the standard route for those with problems relating to the hospital and gives relatives the opportunity to voice concerns, and to seek information and answers from those best equipped to meet them  Reported satisfaction with the service is high, both among relatives and staff.

Available in fulltext in Bereavement Care
Available in print at Arthur Rank House, Brookfields Hospital