Support when you need it most
It’s upsetting and shocking to find out that your illness can’t be cured. So, as well as giving you medical treatment, we can help you cope with this news and the practicalities that follow. We can provide similar support to your family and carers too.
You can ask for our help (by getting a referral, or referring yourself ) at any time after you first hear about your illness. If you’re discharged, you can come back to us for palliative care if your illness returns or gets worse, and when you’re approaching the final stages of life.
What is palliative care?
We can offer you palliative care if you’re aged 14 or over, and have an illness such as cancer, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis, or heart, lung or kidney disease, or any progressive illness.
In such cases, we focus on improving the quality of your life by:
- providing you with relief from pain and other symptoms
- offering you physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual support
- supporting and caring for your family, friends and carers
Asking for help
You can get a referral in a number of ways; you or your family can do it yourself, or you can ask your healthcare team at the hospital, your GP, or home carer to do it on your behalf. We will always need your permission to become involved in your care.
Complete the referral form on our website, click here to find the Referral Form for your use. The referrer will need your permission to do so.
If this isn’t possible, or if your request is an emergency, you – or someone else – can telephone our OneCall advice line 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on 0800 56 70 111.
You can also fax the completed referral form to 01473 712652 during office hours, or 01473 719419 at other times.
We try to consider every referral request within 24 hours, passing it on to the most suitable team. Someone from that team will get in touch to arrange a visit to your home, or to make an appointment for you at our Outpatient Clinic. Either way, we’ll assess and discuss your individual needs and those of your family and carers.
If someone else has made the referral on your behalf, we’ll tell them the outcome within two working days of our next referral meeting.