Since launching in April 2019, more than 3,900 patients and their families in Great Yarmouth and Waveney have been supported by the free specialist palliative care provided by the joint partnership of St Elizabeth East Coast Hospice and East Coast Community Healthcare (ECCH).
Typically living with conditions such as cancer, heart failure, chronic lung diseases – such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – and neurological disorders, these patients have received free care through the partnership’s varied, specialist palliative care provision available at Beccles Hospital, in the community and through the service’s 24-hour advice line, OneCall.
The partnership’s Community Care Unit, in Great Yarmouth and Waveney, also operates at a number of locations in the area. The service supports patients with complex needs, providing symptom control and improving ease of access to healthcare professionals as well as offering social integration and therapy services.
One member of the team is Kate Wilcox, who joined as a senior physiotherapist and therapy team lead in 2022.
“My team and I cover the region between Martham and Southwold, carrying out home visits, seeing patients in our Community Care Units and covering the therapy needs of inpatients in Beccles Hospital,” explained Kate.
“No day is the same, which gives great variety to my role and I enjoy being a part of a team, and organisation, which delivers high levels of care and support to patients and their families during difficult times in their lives.”
With a background working as a musculoskeletal physiotherapist for over 15 years, Kate also has experience working as Integrated Care Lead, in the Waveney area, for Primary Care Homes (East Coast Community Healthcare), where she worked closely with the St Elizabeth Hospice team.
She added: “I was fortunate to be successful in my application to join the St Elizabeth Hospice team in a role which enables me to continue my managerial responsibilities as well as providing direct support to patients, which is what I enjoy most.
“I get great job satisfaction seeing the difference we can make to patients and their families on a daily basis.
“We really are here to help and are keen to keep evolving and expanding our services to support more patients and their families throughout the Great Yarmouth and Waveney communities, so if you or a loved one think you could benefit from our support, please get in contact.”
For more information about the partnership’s services in Great Yarmouth and Waveney visit www.stelizabethhospice.org.uk/how-we-can-help/hospice-care/great-yarmouth_and-waveney