• Ellen Haire, Helen Brown, and Natasha Wiggins.
• Great Western Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Swindon, United Kingdom. Electronic address: ellen.haire@nhs.net.
• J Pain Symptom Manage. 2021 Jul 1; 62 (1): 141148.e2141-148.e2.

ContextIn response to the COVID-19 pandemic, NHS England prohibited people visiting acute hospital trusts. An end-of-life companion scheme was introduced to support the delivery of care for seriously unwell and dying patients during this time.ObjectivesThis study aims to capture the companions' experience and activities, including qualitative feedback, as well as outline recommendations for this role in future services and training.MethodsThe companions' service comprised Allied Healthcare Professionals working for the trust who volunteered for the role following a reduction in their normal workload due to COVID-19. They worked in shifts covering a 12-hour period every day of the week with patients identified by the palliative care team. Companions completed questionnaires containing a 4 domains mixture of Likert scale and free text responses before and after their experience. Details of the visits were recorded in daily spreadsheets.ResultsThe majority of companions were from the physiotherapy team with a range of experience working in the NHS. In total, 64 patients were seen over 382 visits. The companions often carried out more than one activity per visit including communication with the patient and next of kin, personal care, literature, and spirituality. Data showed a statistically significant association between experience as a companion and reduced anxiety around spending time with dying people.ConclusionThis study highlights an interesting approach to changing job roles for health-care professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as recognizing the importance of allied health professionals in the multidisciplinary approach to palliative and end-of-life care.Copyright © 2020 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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