Community specialist palliative care service

Our aim is to help patients live life to the full, to treat people as individuals and respect their personal beliefs, lifestyle and culture.We want patients and carers to achieve the best quality of life possible for as long as possible.

Our specialist service includes:

• Advice on symptoms such as pain and treatment of other symptoms
• Help with any anxieties or concerns that patients, carers and families (including children) may have
• Help to put plans in place for care or treatment that might be needed in the future
• Information about additional help that may be available e.g. care at home, housing and financial matters
• Bereavement care and support

“Knowing that my community nurse is coming to visit me gives me the feeling that I have something to hold on to and that someone really cares.”

How the community teams work

On our first visit we will assess the patient’s needs and get to know their family and carers. We will discuss a plan together about how we feel we can help. We maintain contact by visit and/or phone until such a time when the plan is reviewed. We can be contacted between 9am and 5pm, seven days a week.

Each patient is given an assigned nurse, but other members of the community nursing team will provide support in their absence. There is also an out of hours telephone service for advice at any time.

If a patient’s illness stabilises and our specialist advice is no longer needed, the patient will be discharged. We resume contact if the situation changes and the patient is referred back to the service, perhaps months or even years later.

Please note that we share relevant medical information with other healthcare professionals.

 “Thank you to the whole palliative care team for the wonderful way you looked after my wife while she was at home. You were extremely kind and efficient and enabled us both to cope in a way we could never have imagined possible.”

Community palliative care – coronavirus

Our community teams in Barnet Enfield and Haringey continue to provide palliative care support to people at home. Due to the coronavirus pandemic we are offering support through virtual consultations and over the telephone where appropriate.  We also continue to offer home visits when they are required and our staff will wear personal protective equipment (PPE) to keep people safe.

Prior to visiting we will ask screening questions to assess the risk of coronavirus in a household, our priority is patient and staff safety. The PPE used on each visit will be as a minimum; apron, gloves and a surgical mask and where possible staff will maintain a distance of 2 meters.

Palliative Care Support Service (PCSS) – providing carers and registered nurses to people at home

Prior to all home care shifts being booked we will ask screening questions to assess the risk of coronavirus and all of our staff will wear PPE when working in the community including; aprons gloves and masks.