While the Inpatient Unit has been temporarily suspended, St Mary’s clinical team have allocated more hours to increase the amount of care in the community, to be able to continue to meet people’s needs:
Val Stangoe, St Mary’s Chief Exec: “The number of people in our community who need access to palliative and end of life care continues to rise. So we can continue to meet these need we’ve added our St Mary’s Hospice inpatient staff nursing hours to our Hospice at Home team and been able to deliver even more care in the comfort of people’s homes, including additional night sitting and respite care. We’ve also delivered more Living Well activities at our Living Well Centre on Duke Street in Barrow.”
This means that in September and October St Mary’s provided free expert services through:
105 Night sits for 31 patients and family carers, 76 hours of day respite care for 12 patients/family carers, 465 care visits to patients for end of life care, symptom management, practical and emotional support, and bereavement support.
St Mary’s has continued to work very closely with Community Nursing Teams and Specialist Palliative Care Nurses across the locality to ensure care is coordinated and effective for patients and families:
Val Stangoe, St Mary’s Chief Exec: “The clinical team has made a big impact with how they have supported patients and their families and health care professionals in our community, and we’re grateful for continued positive feedback. We’re working hard to deliver integrated care alongside our fellow healthcare professionals so care into every home is seamless. Your positive comments are a boost for staff and volunteers in a difficult situation and have supported them to continue to make those differences that matter most.”
Recruitment update: St Mary’s is setting dates for interviews for potential candidates towards the end of November and is cautiously optimistic about the reopening of the beds on the Inpatient Unit.