My Patient’s Stay
Following a patient’s referral by a Healthcare professional involved in their care, our Clinical team will review and assess the patient’s current needs and requirements and if appropriate, they will be added to our waiting list.
When a bed becomes available, one of the Team Leaders will contact your patient to arrange admission. The patient may be able to make their own way to the hospice or we may need to arrange transport to the hospice via ambulance.
On admission, your patient will be allocated a nursing team and consultant who will assess and plan individual person centred care in collaboration with them and their family and in conjunction with the wider multidisciplinary team.
Part of these admission discussions may include the patient’s thoughts and hopes for the future including if appropriate for them, discharge. The discharge planning process can be quite complicated so we try to start this process as early as possible. On discharge, the patient will be made aware of all the ongoing care arrangements they have and any follow up appointments that have been made for them. We will discharge the patient with at least a week’s supply of medication and clear instructions regarding the medications and how to take them.
The Inpatient Unit is not a long term place of care.
For more information, please take a look at our Information Booklet
We warmly welcome relatives and friends to St Andrew’s Hospice and operate a flexible, patient-centred approach to visiting to meet the wishes of individual patients and visitors.
We are happy to welcome visitors at any time but as guidance, we find that between 2pm and 8.30pm is the best time to visit. Please speak to the Nurse in Charge for their advice about the best arrangements to suit you and your loved one.
In order to provide some privacy for patients who are eating, we operate Protected Mealtimes and ask that visitors, who are not helping with patient meals, either avoid visiting at meal times or take a break from visiting during these times.
Children are encouraged to visit but must be supervised.
Pets are also welcome by prior arrangement with the Nurse in Charge.
Our car park is situated at the rear of the building with spaces for blue badge holders situated opposite the main entrance. Please ensure these spaces are available for those who need them.
If you choose to park on the streets surrounding the Hospice, please be mindful of our neighbours and ensure you do not block driveways or cause an obstruction.
In the conservatory, there is a small kitchen for patient and family use, which includes a microwave and a fridge. There is also a coffee machine available – we ask that a small donation is placed in the box.
St Andrew’s Hospice operates a strict No Smoking Policy.
The Clinical Team can provide patients with support to stop smoking.
We fully comply with The General Data Protection Regulation (2018).
Information about your medical condition and your treatment is confidential. This information will not be shared with others without permission from you. The Hospice understands that family and friends may wish to be updated about your condition, however, we will not share your information without your permission.
If at any time you wish to view your healthcare records, we have a system in place to allow you to do this. Please ask to speak to our Caldicott Guardian, Joy Farquharson.
Patients
St Andrew’s Hospice provides a full range of palliative care services for patients attending the hospice including the appropriate use of blood transfusions, antibiotics and numerous other treatments that have a proven role in symptom management.
At St Andrew’s Hospice, we also have facilities to provide ‘Basic Life Support’, including a defibrillator, should an incident occur which may require cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). However, St Andrew’s Hospice does not have the facilities to provide ‘Advanced Life Support’.
In the event of an incident which requires a person to be resuscitated, Basic Life Support will be given and a ‘999’ ambulance will be called. Any patient who would wish advanced resuscitation and care, should that need arise, should consider whether the hospice is the best place to provide their care.
Visitors
St Andrew’s Hospice will provide basic CPR as described in the “Adult Basic Life Support” algorithm of the Resuscitation Council (UK) to any such person who sustains a witnessed cardiac arrest in the hospice, until such time as an ambulance arrives to take the patient to the nearest casualty department.