Palliative Care

Palliative Care
 
 

The Charlotte Straker Project is part of the West Northumberland Palliative Care Partnership. This partnership includes patients and carers, GP practices, the West Northumberland Practice Based Commissioning Group, Tynedale Hospice at Home, community nursing teams, social care as well as the specialist palliative care team (Macmillan nurses based in Hexham and Dr Paul McNamara of St Oswald’s Hospice).

  
 

The CSP has been commissioned by the local NHS to provide three nursing beds for palliative and end of life care for patients of local practices. The aim is to provide holistic care for patients with life limiting illness within this small local Palliative Care Unit (PCU).

Patients are eligible to be admitted to the beds if they fulfil the following criteria:

  1. Need for end of life care
  2. Unsustainable home circumstances
  3. Symptom management e.g. pain, nausea, vomiting.
  4. Step down from hospital (patient preference for CSP PCU)
  5. Step up from community (patient preference for CSP PCU)

Referral is through a health care professional and may be from community or Hospital services. CSP palliative care unit will provide short-term care and aims to discharge patients into the community where appropriate.

Referrals can be made by fax (01434632316) or in person (633999 e.g. urgent admission) by completion of a PCU referral form from the PBC website (http://www.westnorthumberlandpbc.org.uk/).

Referrals will be discussed and prioritised daily by the CSP multidisciplinary team. The MDT will make a decision regarding admission on the basis of clinical need & without prejudice. A member of the CSP PCU will contact the referrer within 24 hours to advise on admission as soon as a bed is available.

Inpatients will be temporarily registered with the Corbridge Medical Group and their medical care will be provided by local Corbridge GPs.

If a bed is not available then a waiting list operates and allocation of beds is determined on priority of clinical need following discussion with the CSP MDT.

Once the patient's needs have been addressed in Charlotte Straker then the patient will be discharged back home. We aim for an average length of stay of around 2 weeks. This may vary according to individual circumstances.

It is important that everyone supports the ideal of eventual discharge, when appropriate, to ensure that as many people as possible benefit from the palliative care that CS can provide.

A facility is provided to CS by Lifespan, a small local charity, which provides a range of services to bring ease and support to people with serious and life-threatening illness and to the family members and friends who care for them.  More information is available from their website: www.lifespanteam.org.uk

 

What is Palliative care?

Palliative care:

  • Provides relief from pain and other distressing symptoms
  • Affirms life and regards death as a normal process
  • Intends neither to hasten nor postpone death
  • Integrates the psychological and spiritual aspects of patient care
  • Offers a support system to help patients live as actively as possible until death
  • Offers a support system to help the family cope during the patient's illness and in their own bereavement
  • Uses a team approach to address the needs of patients and their families, including bereavement counselling if indicated
  • Will enhance quality of life, and may also positively influence the course of the illness
  • Is applicable early in the course of illness, in conjunction with other therapies that are intended to prolong life, such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy, and includes those investigations needed to better understand and manage distressing clinical complications.

PALLIATIVE CARE BED AVAILABILITY

Outside office hours (9.00am - 5.00pm), Saturday, Sunday & Bank Holidays please contact Charlotte Straker on 01434 633999 for information on bed availability

GP BEDS

Our 3 GP beds have been in operation in Charlotte Straker since 1994.  They are now available to all patients of the Locality who require a bed with "low tech" medical needs plus short term nursing care such as:

  • Patients who are 'off legs' or have non-distruptive confusion with UTI or chest infection
  • Those frail and elderly whose social or family support breaks down under pressure
  • Step down from Hospital care
  • Other Hospital admission avoidance by step up admisson
  • Short stay planned admissions

There has been a high demand for the GP beds and their use is auditied every year. The average length of stay of each patient in 2007 & 2008 was approximately 15 days.

GP BED AVAILABILITY

Outside offfice hours (9.00am - 5.00pm), Saturday, Sunday & Bank Holidays please contact Charlotte Straker on 01434 633999 for information on bed availability


Links



Palliative Care

Palliative Care Bed Availability

1 beds available
Updated: 02/09/2010 09:14

GP Bed Availability

0 beds available
Updated: 02/09/2010 09:14