The Mountbatten Conference has now moved on to some presentations from specialist teams, who are demonstrating why partnership working is so vital to delivering care services.

Delegates heard about a collaboration between Dee Curless, Mountbatten's Consultant Lead Nurse and Shane Moody, Consultant Nurse from the Isle of Wight NHS Trust, which has answered the need for palliative and end-of-life care among the Isle of Wight's prison population, as well as joint collaborative working in the hospital which has improved end -of-life care.

Mountbatten Consultant Nurse, Jackie Whiller and specialist paramedic from the Isle of Wight NHS Trust, Fraser Wright, have been working together to improve community care for people who dial 999, especially overnight. Thanks to this partnership, specialist paramedics can ensure Mountbatten's care is delivered 24/7, while Mountbatten has delivered training, allowing paramedics to upskill.  The result? Patients have more choice about what happens to them when they call for emergency medical help. 

Above, Shane Moody and Dee Curless. Below, Jackie Hiller and Fraser Wright.

Mary Banks is Mountbatten's Head of Rehabilitation and Enablement. Her work to unite different care service providers has led to more conversation, including about advance care plans which set out your wishes about what will happen when you die, and an increase in signposting to Mountbatten's care. 

She has been working on breaking down barriers when it comes to talking about the hospice.

"Colleagues are more scared of mentioning hospice care than the patients.

"Patients ask me, "Why did no-one tell me about this?", she said. 

"If we didn't have this partnership, things would go back to what they were: Hospitals would find it hard to discharge people with complex needs, like a man with MND, who came to us and has now been discharged from NHS care.

"We look at the whole person, like another patient who no longer sits in pain. It was all down to his medication. He now spends the day with us using the gym while his wife enjoys a lunch in the cafe."