Every week day a team of health professionals (a Multi-Disciplinary Team) come together to look at the patients who have been referred to St John’s Hospice. The meeting considers a range of factors such as physical, mental, psychological, social and emotional needs, to decide which is the right care for that patient, when the right time may be and where the right place may be e.g. a patient may have decided that they would prefer to die home. The team works together to decide which Hospice service, or combination of Hospice services will provide the best care for that patient. Naturally each patient is looked at individually and each care pathway is tailored to that patient – so this means that the care pathway of one patient may be quite different to the care pathway of another patient.
St John’s care focuses on pain and symptom management, and care of the dying patient, this means we are unable to provide services for patients whose health conditions do not require specialist palliative care input; need indefinite care; have clinical problems that are not related to their life-shortening condition or have needs that would be best cared for in a Hospital setting. In cases such as these St John’s can suggest an alternative care pathway.
St John’s needs to prioritise access to all our services according to the complexity of patient need and demand, so therefore unfortunately may not be able to fulfil all requests. Before referring a person to St John’s here is some information to help you consider the services available and therefore what may be the most appropriate service to consider referring to.
St John’s care focuses on palliative care for patients with life shortening illness that cannot be cured or controlled by other treatments. St John’s Hospice is not a place of long-term care.
Every week day a team of health professionals (a Multi-Disciplinary Team) from all hospice services meet together to discuss the patients who have been referred to St John’s Hospice. The meeting considers what the patient and family need physically and emotionally. This helps the team decide which Hospice service, or combination of Hospice services will provide the best care for that patient. Each patient is looked at individually and their care is tailored according to their needs. This means not everyone will receive the same care plan.
St Johns Hospice cannot always help everyone: if not, we will suggest other organisations.
St John’s needs to prioritise access to all our services according to the complexity of patient need and demand, so therefore unfortunately may not be able to fulfil all referral requests.
Our aim is to make the referral process to St John’s Hospice as simple as possible – whether you are a health professional, family member or friend, involved in that person’s care.
The St John’s Hospice inpatient ward is a short stay unit. It provides Specialist Palliative Care for adults aged 18 and over with a progressive life-shortening illness. The ward is specifically for those with complex needs which cannot be managed effectively by other health care services. The inpatient ward also offers end of life care for patients in the last few days of life. St Johns is not a place of long-term care.
More detailed information can be found on the inpatient referral criteria information sheet.
Referrals to the inpatient ward are made through healthcare professionals e.g. GP, District Nurse and Hospital Staff by completing the below referral form, which is then emailed to St John’s Hospice.
The St John's Community team is made up of a number of different services, each designed to support patients with palliative, life shortening illnesses who wish to be cared for at home and support their families. This team make visits and telephone calls to patients’ homes.
There are three services to support you:
The St John’s Clinical Nurse Specialist Team works across North Lancashire and support physical, psychological, spiritual and emotional symptoms. They also help with decision-making and plans around future care. This team typically support someone in their last 12 months of life. Their role is the same as a Macmillan nurse. However, the North Lancashire community team of St Clinical Nurse Specialists is trained, employed and paid for by St John’s Hospice.
The St John’s Hospice at Home team support people and their families who wish to die at home and are in the last few weeks of life. They can assist with symptom management and care in the last few weeks of life and aim to keep people as comfortable as possible.
The Palliative Respite team offer day respite visits to enable a family carer to rest, attend an appointment or meet with a friend. Looking after a loved one 24/7 can mean that the carer feels unable to rest so a night sit service from 10pm to 6.45am can be made available to family carers.
If you choose to make a referral yourself to the community team or day therapy team you will need to complete the below form, please email it to: [email protected] . A team of St John’s Hospice health professionals will discuss the information in a referral meeting to ensure St John’s Hospice is the right place for the care of you or a family member/friend.
The St John’s Hospice inpatient unit provides Specialist Palliative Care for adults aged 18 and over, who have an advanced progressive life-shortening condition, with associated complex needs which cannot be managed effectively in other settings, requiring assessment, management and support by the multidisciplinary palliative care team. This will be delivered in collaboration with our hospital, primary health care colleagues and other community health and social care services.
Referral can be made for one or more of the following reasons:
The purpose of the Hospice referral form is to ensure that we have the relevant information upon which to base our assessment of a patient’s need for Specialist Palliative Care, and to prioritise accordingly. It is important that as much information is given as possible, as incomplete forms may result in a delay to the referral being processed.
Referrals for admission are reviewed on a daily basis (Monday – Friday excluding bank holidays), and admission arranged dependent on priority, bed availability and staffing. This will be communicated directly to the referrer who will be asked to arrange transfer to the Hospice. Currently the ability to admit patients out of hours is limited. To request an admission out of hours the referrer must contact the nurse in charge who will liaise with the on-call doctor to determine the appropriateness of the request. The acceptance of admission will depend on clinical need, bed availability, medical and nursing cover.
The Hospice will endeavour to signpost the referrer to other services in the community able to support the patient until admission can be arranged.
Symptom control advice is available to GPs, Hospital Doctors and out of hours Health Professionals via the Morecambe Bay Wide Senior Advice Line.
If a patient lacks the capacity to make a decision about admission to the Hospice and there is no relevant Lasting Power of Attorney or Court Appointed Deputy, the decision to admit must be made in their best interests in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the accompanying Code of Practice.
This may necessitate a Best Interests meeting and may require the involvement of an Independent Mental Capacity Advocate (IMCA). Please attach copies of your assessment of capacity and best interest documentation including any IMCA report to the referral for admission.
The transfer of patients to the Hospice once admission has been agreed, will normally occur between 9am - 3pm Monday to Friday excluding bank holidays. We aim to give one days’ notice of a bed being available.
Should you need further clarification as to whether your patient will meet our criteria for admission, or you wish to discuss anything further please contact the inpatient unit on 01524 382538
The Hospice is unable to accept patients for indefinite care and this should be made clear to the patient and family when referral for admission is being discussed. Most patients will be admitted for a period of assessment; their length of stay will be dependent on complexity of need and with the exception of patients who are admitted for care in the last days of life, discharge planning commences on admission.
St John’s Hospice acknowledges the importance of advance care planning, recognising that patients have preferences regarding their preferred place of care/death. We are required to prioritise access to all our services according to the complexity of need and therefore, unfortunately, we may not be able to fulfil all requests.
