Process mapping: enhancing, the implementation of the Liverpool Care Pathway

Arohanui Hospice is a 12-bed specialist palliative care service based in Palmerston North, New Zealand. It serves a population of 180 000 people spread over a wide geographical area, both urban and rural. The Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) was initially implemented at the hospice inpatient unit in January 2005. Following this, the 'LCP Pilot Project' was developed. This project involved the implementation of the LCP within three aged residential care facilities and two wards within the regional hospital. Included in the project was a research component to enable evaluation of the effectiveness of the LCP in each setting. This article will consider and demonstrate the use of process mapping (Buckman, 2003) as a quality improvement tool to enhance the effective implementation and sustained use of the LCP for the dying patient within aged residential care. Measures are considered that support the implementation of the LCP at an organisational level rather than at a purely clinical level. While this work has been completed within the New Zealand context, it is believed that the principles are transferable to similar settings internationally.