Families praise hospice service

HOSPICE at Home nursing team, left to right, Lindsey Harper, Kath Crossley, Angela Hickson, Carole England, Brenda Harston, Joanne Mills and Julie Hague

FAMILIES have praised a vital new hospice service which provides patients with additional support to remain in their own home at the end of their life.

The Dr Kershaw's "Hospice at Home" service provides flexible and responsive nursing care to patients and their families to allow them to carry out their wishes of remaining at home rather than in hospital or a hospice.

The service, which launched six months ago as a 12-month pilot after funding from the Stoller Charitable Trust and NHS Oldham Clinical Commissioning Group, has already provided care and support to 75 people and helped to prevent unnecessary hospital admissions.

Lindsey Harper, admission coordinator and lead nurse for Hospice at Home, said: "We have been overwhelmed by the response to the service so far.

"We knew there was a number of people in Oldham who wished to die at home, in the comfort of familiar surroundings and with their family around them, and we thought the Hospice had the expertise to provide the service.

Support

"Our team tailor support to each family and patient and we have a 'can do' motto - whatever the patient and family needs, we do our best to accommodate.

"It can include keeping them comfortable, hygiene assistance, looking after medication or just being there when they need someone to talk to.

"We make sure the family are prepared and know what to expect, such as someone going off their food, so nothing is a surprise to them.

"We can visit as much or as little as they need, and they know they can call us if the situation changes or they are concerned."

The service works alongside other services in the community, including district nurses, home care providers, Macmillan nurses and the Royal Oldham Hospice, with Dr Kershaw's adding their expertise in hospice care.

Marie Curie also provide night sitting services and can sit with patients during the night to allow family members to get some much-needed rest.

In the past six months, the service has received 112 referrals from Macmillan, the Royal Oldham Hospital and families.

Patients must be 18+, live in Oldham or registered with an Oldham GP, and be at the end of their life to be eligible for Hospice at Home.

Lindsey said: "We have developed a good working relationship with other services and it helps us give the best care to patients as we can access equipment or other support for familie quickly.

"We go out and assess every referral we receive.

"On a few occasions we have been able to tell the family their loved one is not eligible because they are not at the end of their life, which can obviously be a huge relief to them.

"But we always leave our contact details and ensure they know about other services available, such as the Dr Kershaw's 24-hour advice line, and explain that they can contact us again if the situation changes."

Responses

From the 30 feedback responses received by the hospice so far, not a single one has complained or negatively reviewed the care their loved one received.

One family member wrote: "Without the Hospice at Home Team, my dad's last day would not have been pain free, peaceful and caring. Their presence gave us great comfort and strength.

"They advised how close dad was to death and that enabled the family to be with him at his end."

Another family also praised the compassion and nursing skills the team showed.

"I feel this service is without a doubt the most valuable service anyone could access during such a difficult time," they said.

"In my opinion the nurses involved in my husband's care gave more than just a service and enabled me to focus on him, knowing his needs, both physical and emotional would be catered for by the amazing nurses. I cannot thank them enough."

The comments received by the hospice were enough to bring some of the staff to tears, Lindsey added.

She said: "You only get one chance to give the best end of life care you can and it makes you feel so humble that you provided the family with comfort and support during such a difficult time."

Lindsey added that she hopes the service, which saw eight new staff members recruited to work on a rota with the other hospice staff, will continue to be funded after the pilot period ends and that they are currently meeting the targets of reducing inappropriate hospital admissions and increasing patient care satisfaction.

"For the people of Oldham, I think this is a fantastic service," she said. "We can't thank Oldham CCG and the Stoller Charitable Trust for providing funding and helping us get the service running."

For more information contact Dr Kershaw's Hospice on 0161 624 2727.