Only 50% of all patients needing specialist and generalist palliative care receive it across the UK. We want to bridge the current gap and support even more people by creating an accessible 24/7 specialist care service across North London so no family is left struggling to cope alone.
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Beneficiaries
Situation
It’s estimated that 90% of people with life-limiting illnesses need palliative care. Fewer than half receive it. This can leave patients with unmanaged symptoms, including extreme pain, and without a say in how and where they’re looked after. This problem is exacerbated out of hours. Patients and their families may find themselves on their own, struggling to cope when a loved one suddenly deteriorates. Often this leads to frightening emergency admissions to hospital, counter to patients’ wishes.
Solution
Everyone deserves the best possible experience no matter their stage in life: to be heard, their wishes respected, and their care needs met. In our 1.6m catchment, we want to reduce the palliative care gap, by enhancing our Hospice outreach and 24/7 support. This includes extending our Inpatient admissions over weekends; increasing our community care hours to 8–8, 365 days a year and introducing a specialist nurse-manned telephone line where patients and loved ones can access support 24/7.