Professionals End of Life Support Harlington Hospice works in close partnership with GPs, district nurses and hospital teams, providing support for patients in need of specialist palliative care. We accept patients Living in or registered with a GP in the London Borough of Hillingdon To refer to our services please visit our referrals page What is Palliative Care? Palliative care is provided to patients with life-limiting diseases when their disease is not responsive to curative treatment and the patient has a limited life expectancy. It’s provided by generalists (GPs, primary care teams or hospital practitioners) when they need basic palliative care or by palliative care specialists when patients develop complex needs despite the initiation of basic palliative care. The World Health Organisation defines palliative care as an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problems associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification, assessment and treatment of pain and other physical, psychosocial and spiritual problems. Palliative care: provides relief from pain and other distressing symptoms; affirms life and regards dying as a normal process; intends neither to hasten or 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 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 [email protected] We care for people with many different types of progressive illnesses such as cancer, heart, lung and kidney diseases and also neurological conditions such as motor neurone disease and dementia. It is the needs of our patients that matter to us rather than the diagnosis. Our End of Life care is offered completely free of charge. Who can refer into our [email protected] Service? GPs District Nurses Clinical Nurse Specialists Other Palliative Care professionals Social Services criteria - [email protected] The patient is aged over 18 and lives in the London Borough of Hillingdon and/or is registered with a GP in the London Borough of Hillingdon. The patient has a progressive disease that cannot be cured, or the patient does not want treatment and they are competent to make that decision. Any life-limiting disease is appropriate for our services including non-cancer conditions. The patient has complex problems including symptom control, emotional, psychological, social or spiritual issues that are important to the patient. The patient is entering the final End of Life phase. Assessments suggest that care of the patient would be best managed through palliative care in the community, through our day services and/or our Hospice at Home services. The patient must have consented to their referral, if they are competent to do so Harlington Care Services Harlington Care is a group of services provided by Harlington Hospice for people with long term conditions and high dependency needs. Harlington Care services are aimed at supporting patients who are at risk of being admitted to hospital when they could stay at home with appropriate care and also patients who could be discharged from hospital because they are medically stable, but are delayed in hospital because they need high dependency care and/or further assessment to support them returning home. Who can refer into our Harlington Care services? Social Services Teams only Criteria - Harlington Care Services The patient is aged over 18 and lives in the London Borough of Hillingdon and/or is registered with a GP in the London Borough of Hillingdon. The patient has a long term condition that requires high dependency care. The patient's needs could be supported by social care in order to prevent admission to hospital. The patient’s needs require high dependency social care support on discharge from hospital. Wellbeing service - Rehab Team The rehab team consists of an Occupational Therapist, a Physiotherapist and a Therapy Assistant. We are able to see patient in person either 1:1 or in small groups, via remote zoom sessions or by telephone as appropriate to help palliative care patients cope with the ever changing difficulties that they encounter. On receiving a referral we would offer an initial holistic assessment to ascertain each patient’s individual needs. We then plan to offer a treatment plan to address their goals. Our interventions include:- Support to enable coping at home using self-management/coping strategies. This may involve activity planning and goal setting where appropriate to help adjust to changing physical, psychological and emotional issues. We can also provide support for family and carers and onward referrals/liaison. Mobility - for safe walking and falls prevention. Transfers – on/off bed, chair, toilet, bath and car. Exercises – seated or in standing. Non pharmacological symptom control and management, e.g. for shortness of breath (SOB), anxiety, pain, fatigue/energy conservation, sleep hygiene and relaxation. Activities of Daily Living (ADL) - dressing, washing, bathing, feeding and toileting. Posture and positioning – seating and pressure care. Vocational rehab. Home visits and environmental assessments. Equipment – prescription, i.e. for ADL, wheelchairs and riser recliners. Advance Care Planning (ACP). We offer open group sessions such as our current fortnightly Social Zoom with our Wellbeing team, offering peer support and connection, or closed group sessions covering specific topics such as seated or standing exercise groups, management of SOB, fatigue, sleep, relaxation and anxiety. We are very keen to receive referrals to our service of your palliative care patients who you believe would benefit from our input. As this is a service that we would like to develop we would appreciate any recommendations that you may have to offer. Referrals – please send to [email protected] with relevant medical info. To discuss please ring 0208 106 9215. Other services that may help Hospice UK Marie Curie Macmillan