Palliative care
Overview
The palliative care team provides specialist palliative and end of life care to any adult patient living with serious or life-limiting illness (this includes patients with cancer and non-cancer diagnoses) and offers support to families and carers. We manage complex symptoms such as pain, nausea, breathing difficulties, and fatigue among others. We recognise that the spiritual, emotional, psychological, and practical worries can be as important as the physical problems, and we provide support with these aspects of care.
Palliative care can help in all stages of the illness, but it is particularly important to consider when curative treatment is no longer an option as it may help patients to live longer and more comfortably. It can be provided alongside medical care and other therapeutic treatments earlier in the stage of illness to achieve the best possible quality of life. For patients reaching the end of life, our aim is ensure that they die comfortably, with dignity, and with respect to their wishes and preferences.
Our service
Our team consists of medical consultants, nurse consultant, team leader, clinical nurse specialists, social worker, clinical psychologists, and an end of life care facilitator. We are an advisory service and we cover all areas of the hospital, and Mary Seacole Nursing Home. All patients we see remain under the care of their referring medical or ward team. We work closely with other health and social care professionals including GPs, community nurses, hospital doctors, and other local hospitals and hospices to support our patients and those important to them.