The standards were developed as part of the ‘Gold Standard Bereavement Care Project’, which was funded by a grant from the Department of Health.
Cruse Chief Executive Debbie Kerslake said: “We are delighted to announce the launch of the standards. We believe they will be a vital tool for all those dealing with bereaved people across all sectors. They set out what needs to be addressed in order for services to be both safe and effective in meeting the needs of bereaved people. The standards will also be an essential tool for commissioning high quality bereavement services.”
The standards apply to all services providing bereavement support in any sector – hospital, hospice, community, commercial and bereavement support organisations including peer support groups.
They provide a practical tool for benchmarking, service development planning and improvement and may well be used by commissioners for assessing the quality of services.
The framework used to structure the standards falls under seven headings:
- Planning
- Awareness and Access
- Assessment
- Support and Supervision
- Education and Training
- Resources
- Monitoring and Evaluation
The standards were launched last week at a meeting of the National Bereavement Alliance, which has endorsed the standards.
Introducing the report, John Rouse, Director General for Social Care, Local Government and Care Partnerships, said: “I believe they are an important milestone towards ensuring that people who are grieving are able to access high quality, expert support when they need it. In particular, I hope that by embedding expertise on issues of death, dying and bereavement, these Standards will make it easier for professionals, patients and family members across the country to have the necessary conversations to aid proper end of life care planning.
The Bereavement Care Service Standards can be downloaded from the Cruse website.
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