Somerset care training to help support loved ones at home for longer

A training programme is providing people with the skills to care for loved ones suffering from serious conditions at home in their final days.

Sarah Bow's partner Gary White, from Somerset, was 55 when he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2021.

A team from NHS Somerset provided personalised training to Ms Bow which allowed the couple to spend the final 13 months of his life together at home.

The Somerset NHS Foundation Trust social care training team made visits to the couple's home as Mr White's condition progressed, to provide advice and guidance to Ms Bow.

The service was set up in November 2021 to provide free NHS standardised training and competency assessments in clinical skills to people involved in social care.

Ms Bow said the scheme had helped them spend more time together doing the things Mr White enjoyed.

"Being able to care for him meant we could have so many precious moments before he died," she said.

The training in a variety of skills including like catheters and injections, aims to reduce hospital admissions and improve patient discharge times.

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Source: BBC News, 17 February 2023