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565 Foxhall Road
Ipswich,
Suffolk
IP3 8LX
T: (01473) 727776
F: (01473) 274717
Email us here

The highest priority for in-patient respite care will be given to:

• Emergency respite - responding to a crisis situation, eg breakdown of care, especially where the carers are 'informal' ie unpaid. These referrals will be considered as for any other referral (see above).
• Patients with complex nursing care needs which cannot be met in an alternative care setting, eg requiring a higher staff ratio and multidisciplinary input.
• Patients whose main requirement is for respite but in whom it is anticipated that their medical needs are such that they would require regular medical review.

Each request for respite will be treated as a separate referral

• Acceptance for one respite stay would not automatically mean that further stays will be offered.
• The number of respite admissions available to each patient will be assessed on an individual basis by the multi-professional team at the time of each new respite referral.
• The Hospice will normally only have one bed available at any one time for planned respite.

If the Hospice multi disciplinary team decides that a request for respite is inappropriate, it is expected that the community key worker will explore a suitable alternative provision. Patients whose needs are assessed as mainly social and without a specialist palliative care need will not normally be accepted by the Hospice, particularly where alternative care is seen as the responsibility of statutory services.