Level 2 clinical supervision for community practitioners working with palliative and end-of-life care patients.

BACKGROUND: Little has been written on the availability of specialist level 2 supervision groups to support community practitioners regarding the emotional components of their palliative and end-of-life caseload. Adapted level 2 groups (AL2Gs) have been piloted in three community teams in the NHS to address this. AIMS: This study aimed to evaluate whether access to AL2Gs benefited community palliative and end-of-life practitioners at three sites. The outcomes for those who attended and those unable to attend were considered. FINDINGS: Attendees found AL2Gs beneficial, reporting better confidence and wellbeing, plus a sense of containment through group cohesion and trust in the facilitators and fellow AL2G members. Most would recommend the groups to all staff working in community palliative care. Practitioners who were not able to attend relied on informal and ad-hoc peer support, and had concerns about their skills in managing patients' psychological needs. CONCLUSION: Community nurses benefit from attending AL2Gs to support them with their palliative care/end-of-life caseloads. It is recommended that all community staff involved in this type of care have access to regular clinical supervision, especially in a group format.

Establishing a clinical psychology team within the orthognathic service: A triad model of orthodontic, maxillofacial and psychological care.

The importance of psychological support for orthognathic patients has taken an increasing precedence over recent years and is embedded in orthognathic commissioning guidelines. Furthermore, attention towards mental health-related conditions and their management is of prime importance and continues to be a key area of focus within healthcare settings. With this in mind, this paper aims to outline our experience of establishing a need for and subsequently securing funding to establish a clinical psychology service within an existing orthognathic service in the NHS. The information outlined may be of benefit to orthognathic teams seeking to secure such psychological support within their respective units.