Staying at home
Palliative care is not only for the last few days. It is support for someone living with a condition that will not be cured, and it can run for months or longer alongside whatever treatment is still happening. The aim shifts from fixing things to comfort, control and ordinary life carrying on for as long as it can.
At home that means someone's own bed, their own room, their own light through their own window, and family able to come and go without visiting hours. It also means the people around them are not doing every wash, every turn and every night alone.
What we do
- Personal care, gently and at the person's pace, including washing, dressing and continence care
- Help with positioning, pressure area care and comfort
- Support with eating and drinking for as long as that is wanted, without pressure
- Medication support in line with the plan set by the GP and district nursing team
- Overnight support and live-in care where a constant presence is needed
- Sitting with someone so a partner or son or daughter can sleep, or leave the house for an hour
- Practical running of the household so the family are not also managing the washing
We work alongside the district nurses, the GP, the community palliative care team and the hospice where one is involved. We are the hands-on hours in between their visits, not a replacement for them.
Support for the family is part of the job. The person who is dying is not the only person being cared for. Partners and adult children in this situation are usually exhausted, frightened and trying to hold down the rest of their lives at the same time. Practical relief, at 3am if that is when it is needed, is not an extra.
Arranging care quickly
These situations often move fast, sometimes with a hospital discharge in twenty-four hours. Call us as early as you can, even if nothing is decided yet. We would rather have an early conversation that comes to nothing than get a call on the afternoon of a discharge.
Fast-track NHS Continuing Healthcare funding is available where someone has a rapidly deteriorating condition and may be approaching the end of life. It is not means tested, and the assessment is designed to be completed quickly. Our guide to paying for care explains it, and the district nurse or hospital palliative team can start the process.
Questions families ask
Can care be arranged at very short notice?
Often yes, and we will tell you straight away whether we can cover it rather than leaving you waiting. If we cannot staff it safely we will say so immediately, because in this situation a delayed no is much worse than a fast one.
Do you provide overnight care?
Yes, both waking nights and live-in arrangements. For many families the single most valuable thing is one uninterrupted night's sleep a week.
Is end of life care free on the NHS?
It can be. NHS Continuing Healthcare funds a full care package where someone's needs are primarily health needs, and the fast-track route exists for rapidly deteriorating conditions. It is not means tested. Ask the district nurse, GP or hospital palliative care team to begin a fast-track assessment.
Will the same carers come?
We keep the team as small and as consistent as we can. At this stage of someone's life a rotating cast of strangers is the last thing anyone needs.
Talk it through with Jackie
No call centre and no obligation. Tell us what you are dealing with and we will tell you honestly whether we can help.