Specialist Palliative Care Team
What is palliative care?
Palliative care provides symptom management, psychological and spiritual support for any patient with a life-limiting illness. We aim to achieve the best quality of life for patients, their families and carers.
Who is in the team and what do they do?
We have three teams based across our local hospitals and the community. All teams have specialist nurses and doctors.
The MRC team members include:
Occupational therapists
Physiotherapists
Clinical psychologists
We can:
- Visit patients at home, in residential and nursing homes, in clinic or on hospital wards.
- Help manage symptoms such as pain, nausea and fatigue. We will work in an advisory capacity with other health care professionals.
- Offer emotional support and refer for additional counselling if needed.
- Help with practical matters such as how to manage day-to-day living or financial worries.
- Advise on what other services may be available in your area and how to access them.
- Help with advance care planning – to record any preferences you may have about the care you wish or do not wish to receive in the future.
- Provide support and resource materials in relation to supporting children when a relative is ill.
Contacting us
MRC Community Specialist Palliative Care Team
Telephone: 01642 065070 (Option 2) Single point of Access
Monday to Sunday 8:30am until 4.30pm
Triage service Monday to Sunday 9am until 4pm
Other services we work with
District nurse
Coordinates care at home, nursing care, symptom management, advice, for example, with medication, support and provision of equipment.Out of hours nursing service
From 6pm to 8am a nurse can be contacted to give support and visits arranged to provide nursing care – including administrating medications for symptom management.Your ward doctor or GP
Provides medical care, symptom management and support. When your GP’s surgery is closed there is an out of hours’ service which will handle your enquiry.Marie Curie nurse
Provide overnight care of 8 to 9 hours when someone is in his or her last weeks of life (depending on availability, usually for up to three nights a week).Social care
Home care can be provided, depending on availability, to help you continue to live independently and safely in your own home (there may be a charge for this service). They can also provide equipment to support you.Hospice
Offers specialist palliative care and support to patients and carers as an inpatient or day-patient.End of life care at home
Provides free personalised care when your condition is deteriorating rapidly, to enable you to live comfortably, with dignity, in the place you call home during the last few weeks of your life. The provision of this care will be reviewed regularly and there may be a charge if your condition stabilises.The Dragonfly Scheme
The Dragonfly scheme is a recognised symbol within South Tees Trust to represent End of Life Care, this has been introduced by the specialist palliative care team and is designed to offer help and support to relatives and carers. This can include comfort packs for relatives and carers of a patient who is dying. The scheme also raises awareness amongst staff that a patient is near end of life.
Local contacts which can provide useful information and support
Citizens Advice Bureau
Staff at the Citizens Advice Bureau help people to resolve their financial, legal and other problems by providing free, independent and confidential information and advice. They are also able to advise on state benefits which you may be entitled to and help to complete claim forms where necessary.
For local office numbers please contact your local directory or palliative care team or visit: www.citizensadvice.org.uk
Macmillan Cancer Support and Information Centre
The centre is based at the Mowbray Suite, The Friarage Hospital, Northallerton and in The James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough.
This service provides support, information about local and national support agencies, benefits and financial advice and an opportunity to discuss concerns. These centres hold a comprehensive stock of leaflets produced by Macmillan Cancer Support and from other sources.
- The Friarage Hospital
Telephone: 01609 764033, Monday to Thursday, 10am until 4pm - The James Cook University Hospital
Telephone: 01642 835674, Monday to Friday 9am until 4pm - Email: [email protected]
The Trinity Holistic Centre
The centre is for patients registered with a consultant based at The James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough. This service provides a range of supportive therapies to complement other treatments.
Telephone: 01642 854839
Visit: www.southtees.nhs.uk/services/trinity-holistic-centre
The Sir Robert Ogden Centre
The centre has a chemotherapy lounge, a relaxing garden area, a Macmillan Information Centre and complementary therapy rooms at The Friarage Hospital.
Telephone: 01609 764033
Complementary Therapies Line: 01609 762676
National websites and contacts
Macmillan Cancer Support
A charity which provides health care, information and financial support to people affected by cancer. The Macmillan Support Line offers free support to people living with cancer and their loved ones.
Telephone: 0808 808 00 00, 7 days a week from 8am until 8pm
Visit: www.macmillan.org.uk
Cancer Research UK
A charity dedicated to beating cancer and the patient information section of their website has a large amount of easily printable information about cancer, treatments and clinical trials. Cancer Research UK also runs a discussion forum at Cancer Chat.
Cancer Research UK Nurses, telephone: 0808 800 4040
Visit: www.cancerresearchuk.org.uk or www.cancerchat.org.uk
Deciding Right
Help in making sure a person is involved in decision making about their future care and treatment. Information and resources are available from: www.northerncanceralliance.nhs.uk
Advance Decisions to Refuse Treatment (ADRT)
ADRT explains how the law now enables people to make decisions to refuse treatment, including those that sustain life. Information on advance decisions can be found at: www.nhs.uk
Dying Matters
An organisation that produces a wide range of resources to help people start conversations about dying, death and bereavement.
Visit: www.dyingmatters.org
Silverline
A free, confidential helpline for older people, open every day and night of the year. Telephone: 0800 470 8090 or visit: www.thesilverline.org.uk
Soldier, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA)
Help and support those who serve in the armed forces and those who used to serve. They also care for the families of both.
Forces line: 0800 260 6767 or visit: www.ssafa.org.uk
Winston’s Wish
A charity for children affected by someone with a diagnosis of serious illness to offer support and guidance. It offers helpful resources and books for children that may be of interest to parents or other family members or anyone offering guidance and information to a child or young person.
Telephone: 0845 203 0405 or visit: www.winstonswish.org
Child Bereavement UK
Helping children, young people, parents, and families to rebuild their lives when a child grieves.
National Helpline telephone: 0800 02 888 40 9am until 4.30pm
Visit: www.childbereavementuk.org
Other websites: There are a number of national support groups for specific cancers and for other life-limiting illnesses such as dementia, multiple sclerosis and heart failure which can be found by searching on the internet.
Cancer-specific websites
There are national support groups for specific cancers – please ask us or contact the Macmillan information centre for details.
Websites for other conditions
There are national websites and helplines for other life-limiting illnesses such as dementia, Multiple Sclerosis and heart failure. Please feel free to ask for help finding these websites if needed.
Bereavement support information is covered in a separate leaflet. It contains contact information for various organisations which can offer advice and support.
Additional sources of information
Each locality will have its own organisations which can offer additional support to patients and carers, for example, Reach and Respond, an emergency alarm call and monitoring service, County Council offices, bereavement support, advocacy services and carers’ groups. Please ask your key contact in the team for details.
Polite request
We politely ask that if anyone in your home smokes that they do not smoke during a home visit by a member of our community team.We thank you in advance for your co-operation. We aim to treat all patients and carers with dignity and respect at all times and reserve the right to end any consultation in which we feel our safety may be at risk.
Questions you may wish to ask:
If you would like to nominate a team for going the extra mile in terms of patient care, visit: www.southtees.nhs.uk and search for ‘Nightingale Awards’ or ‘Star Awards’.
Contact us
If you have any questions, please contact us:
Telephone: 01642 065070 (Option 2), Monday to Sunday 9.00am until 4.00pm
Email: [email protected]
Patient experience
South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust would like your feedback. If you wish to share your experience about your care and treatment or on behalf of a patient, please contact The Patient Experience Department who will advise you on how best to do this.
This service is based at The James Cook University Hospital but also covers the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton, our community hospitals and community health services.
To ensure we meet your communication needs please inform the patient experience department of any special requirements, for example; braille or large print by emailing: [email protected]