A Cumbrian hospice’s support at home service is expanding due to growing demand.
Hospice at Home West Cumbria’s service, supports people with a palliative diagnosis and who are approaching the last three months of life.
It is available to people who are eligible for ‘fast track’ discharge, supported by Continuing Health Care Funding.
It provides up to three one-hour visits a day. The expansion will see a new office open in Cleator Moor on November 25 to complement the scheme already delivered in Allerdale.
Rachael McAllister, home nursing services team leader, said: “We have been providing the service for 15 months, and in that time, we have seen a significant increase in the number of people being referred in, highlighting a real need for expansion.
“Our aim is to find the ‘person in the patient’ and allow them to lead on their own holistic care and encourage them to maintain a level of independence whilst in their preferred place of care.”
Referrals into the service can be made by healthcare professionals involved in the patient’s care like a GP, district nurse, clinical nurse specialist, or hospital discharge team.
Rachael added: “It’s meeting a real community need and enabling patients to be in their own home and means so much to them and their families. We know it makes such a difference to them.”
