HOW DOES CARE AT HOME WORK?
Once you have been referred to us by your GP or healthcare professional, we’ll contact you, or the other healthcare professionals supporting you, to talk about the kind of care that will help you most. This could be any or all of the following:
Symptom Control
Our nurses and doctors work with you, and the people who are already treating you, to find support, treatments or medicines that can help you live fully. We will keep in touch in a way that suits you to make sure your symptoms are being managed properly, and offer advice to other doctors and nurses who are helping you.
You can also call our advice line on 01293 447333 for advice with symptom control, Monday to Sunday 8am to 4pm.
We have also put together some useful advice on how you, or a loved one, can help to manage common symptoms.
Therapy Support
In most cases our Therapy team provides support at our hospice through group or one-to-one exercise sessions and educational classes. However if your illness means you are unable to come into the hospice, in certain circumstances our team will still visit you at home to offer support with breathlessness and fatigue management.
Our team can also help your relatives and friends understand how your condition might affect you, and help them be there for you, and provide specialist advice to other healthcare professionals in the community who may be involved in your care.
Emotional, spiritual and religious wellbeing
We know that mental and spiritual wellbeing is just as important as controlling physical symptoms, both for a person with a life-limiting or terminal illness and the people closest to them. Our Wellbeing Team can offer counselling and advice, as well as spiritual and religious support for you and those close to you. All sessions are confidential and many say that they use what they have learnt from our team to help other family and friends.
Welfare and financial support
We will never charge you for the care we provide but, for some, other costs and lost income caused by a life-limiting or terminal condition can be worrying. Our Welfare team can help you with applying for government funding that you might not even realise you are entitled to.
If you have any questions, at any point during your care, please just ask any member of the team.
Meet our Hospice Teams
Our expert teams specialise in different types of palliative care to make sure we can tailor our support to what you need most. Here is some information about the different staff you might meet. Meet our Hospice Teams.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
If you have a question and can’t find the information you need, please get in touch with our team.
Our Contact page has a full list of numbers and email addresses, including ones that you can use out of hours.
Our advice line is available to patients and families 8am to 4pm, Monday to Sunday.
Yes. It’s vital that you are able to tell us about your wishes and have the chance to make choices about your own care. We will always discuss care plans and suggested treatments with you (and your family and friends if you would like). You may wish to make some decisions about your future care and treatments. Making an Advance Care Plan is one way to record these. Download a printable Advance Care Plan.
No. We will never charge you for your care.
We’ll contact you in advance of a visit to decide on a time that works best for everyone.
St Catherine’s is committed to providing high quality care and before any member of our staff examines or treats you, they will seek your permission or consent to do so. If at any stage, you cannot consent to examination or treatment, we will do what we think is in your best interests. Anything you have said previously about how you wish to be cared for, and the views of other people important to you, will be considered. You may have nominated a Lasting Power of Attorney for health & welfare (LPA), or have documented your wishes in other ways. Please share any documentation about this with us, if you have not already done so. Your LPA will be consulted if you are unable to make decisions for yourself. If you ever feel that your consent has not been sought, please let a member of the team know.
A chaperone is a trained member of staff who can be present during your consultation, examination or conversation to provide support and reassurance. Their role is to:
– Protect your dignity and comfort
– Act as an impartial witness during the examination
– Provide emotional support if you feel anxious or vulnerable
– Assist with communication if needed.
When you are assessed by a clinician you will be asked if you would like a chaperone to be present. You may decline this offer, either because you feel you do not need this support or if you feel a family member or carer can be present. If you would like a chaperone, there may be times when one is not immediately available. In which case, we may need to rearrange your assessment to a mutually convenient time.
If you know that you would definitely want a chaperone, please let us know so this information can be held on your record and planned in advance.
Our Wellbeing Team are dedicated to helping you, and those close to you, through this difficult time. For more information on the spiritual, emotional, and financial help they can provide, please contact us.
Our Community team does not provide practical support/personal care at your own home. This service is provided by other local domiciliary care agencies.
By supporting St Catherine’s you can help us be there for more people when life comes full circle. Read more information on how to donate or fundraise for St Catherine’s Hospice.
If you are a St Catherine’s Hospice patient and would like access to your medical records, or copies of hospice correspondence regarding your treatment, please ask a member of our team.
We want everyone’s experience of St Catherine’s to be a good one. We hope you’ll never have reason to complain but if there’s something you’re not happy with, please tell us so we can try to put matters right. You can find out more about making a complaint by viewing our Complaints Policy.
