A pilot project has been launched across mid Essex to enhance the existing overnight care service people receive in their own homes.
The pilot project is a joint three-month initiative to enhance the specialist ‘out of hours’ care the District Nursing Team run, by joining forces and working with Marie Curie and Farleigh Hospice.
People living with terminal illness need palliative care to help them manage their symptoms and may also require specialist care when they reach the end of their life. In mid Essex, if they need this support when they are at home at night, they are cared for by Provide Community’s District Nursing Team from 8pm to 8am.
Marie Curie is the UK’s leading end of life charity. It helps people with any illness they are likely to die from including Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, heart, liver, kidney and lung disease, motor neurone disease, Parkinson’s and advanced cancer.
Farleigh Hospice is the local charity that provides specialist care and support, including palliative and end of life care, to people affected by life-limiting illnesses and bereavement across mid Essex.
Until Sunday 31 March 2024, referrals that come through the existing overnight district nursing service will be assessed by Provide Community’s team, and triaged to a specialist team of Registered Nurses and Healthcare Assistants from Marie Curie, with additional staff from Farleigh Hospice. They will provide responsive palliative and end of life care and support to these people in their homes.
Research from Marie Curie has shown that gaps in out-of-hours care can lead to avoidable trips to accident and emergency departments. The research also found that, over a year, approximately 780,000 out-of-hours visits were made to accident and emergency across the UK for people in the last year of life. These visits increase rapidly during the final three months of life, with out-of-hours visits increasing more than in-hours visits.
By working together to provide specialist palliative care when and where it is needed, Marie Curie, Farleigh Hospice and Provide Community hope to reduce avoidable visits to accident and emergency during the winter months when there is increased pressure on the NHS.
This pilot project is being funded by Marie Curie.
Jon Clemo, Marie Curie Associate Director for East of England, said, “At Marie Curie we know that pain and other symptoms can suddenly increase when someone is nearing the end of their life, so fast, responsive care is needed around the clock.
“Our close collaboration with Farleigh Hospice and Provide Community will ensure that anyone in Mid Essex can make one phone call and Marie Curie’s expert urgent hospice care at home teams can provide care at short notice.
“This service will provide support to patients and their family and carers overnight during the winter months, avoiding calls to 999 and the anxiety of unnecessary hospital admissions.”
Ellie Miller, Director of Care at Farleigh Hospice, worked with Jon Clemo to develop the pilot. She said, “Thank you to my colleagues at Marie Curie and Provide Community for being so receptive and committed to developing this innovative new model for out of hours palliative and end of life care.
“Farleigh’s vision is that everyone in mid Essex who is facing the end of their life will be supported to live well and die well. We will be using the outcomes and lessons learnt from this project to look at how we can further develop our care to respond to the needs of our patients in the future.”
Stephanie Dawe, CEO of Provide Health, said, “It is a privilege for our existing Overnight District Nursing Service to be able work with Marie Curie and Farleigh Hospice in this pioneering initiative. This project is about enhancing how palliative care is delivered in our community.
“By providing overnight care, we are taking a significant step towards ensuring that individuals living with terminal illness receive the compassionate, specialist support they need, in the comfort of their own home.
“This collaboration is testament to our commitment to delivering holistic and responsive healthcare, reducing the strain on emergency services, and most importantly, honours the dignity and comfort of our patients during their most critical times.”
The Overnight District Nursing Service can be contacted 7 days a week by calling 07580 912 693.
—————————–
Photos:
- Back – Sharon Guyver (Provide Community), Ellie Miller (Farleigh Hospice) and Nic Radovcic (Provide Community). Front – Maggie Reeves (Marie Curie), Sarah Green (Farleigh Hospice) and Alison Hurst (Marie Curie).
- Sarah Green (Farleigh Hospice), Nic Radovcic (Provide Community), Sharon Guyver (Provide Community), Alison Hurst (Marie Curie) and Maggie Reeves (Marie Curie) with Farleigh Hospice’s memory tree.
———————————-
About Marie Curie
Please note, Marie Curie is not a cancer charity but the UK’s leading ‘end of life charity.’ We care for people with any illness they are likely to die from including Alzheimer’s (and other forms of dementia), heart, liver, kidney and lung disease, motor neurone disease, Parkinson’s, and advanced cancer.
The charity provides expert end of life care for people with any illness they are likely to die from, and support for their family and friends, in our hospices and where they live. It is the largest charity funder of palliative and end of life care research in the UK, and campaigns to ensure everyone has a good end of life experience. Whatever the illness, wherever you are, Marie Curie is with you to the end.
If you’re living with a terminal illness or have been affected by dying, death and bereavement, Marie Curie can help. Visit www.mariecurie.org.uk or call the free Marie Curie Support Line on 0800 090 2309.
About Farleigh Hospice
Farleigh Hospice supports people within mid Essex who are affected by life-limiting illnesses and bereavement.
Farleigh cares for people living with any life-limiting illness such as cancer, heart disease and chronic pulmonary disease, multiple sclerosis, and motor neurone disease.
Over 93% of Farleigh’s care takes place out in the community and within patients’ own homes.
It costs over £21,270 every day for Farleigh Hospice to provide its services.
Farleigh Hospice is a charity and relies on fundraising, donations and gifts left in Wills.
You can donate now by calling 01245 457351 or by visiting www.farleighhospice.org
About Provide Community
Established in 2011, Provide Community is an employee-owned Community Interest Company (CIC), working within NHS and community care settings, and delivering social care support at home. Provide Community is the overarching company to a number of individual brand companies including: Provide Digital, Provide Wellbeing and React Homecare (part of Provide Care Solutions). Although we are based predominantly across the East of England and Essex, we also operate services across the country.
Provide Community is registered with the CQC and is compliant with all of the Essential Standards of Safety and Quality. It was certified as an ‘Outstanding’ provider by the CQC in its latest inspection (2019).
Provide Community have won a number of national awards including Building a Culture of Innovation Initiative Award at the 2023 Business Culture Awards and Excellence in Engagement at the Association for Business Psychology Awards 2023. They were regional award winners in the NHS 2023 Parliamentary Awards for the Future NHS Award and Excellence in Urgent and Emergency Care Award. Mark Heasman, Group Chief Executive won the Expanding Impact Award at the Healthcare Honours 2023. The organisation also won Best Public/Not-For-Profit Organisation for Business Culture in the 2022 Business Culture Awards; Mark Heasman also won the Leadership Award for Business Culture.
Provide Community operates as a Community Interest Company (CIC), dedicated to reinvesting its profits back into the communities it serves. With a vision to transform lives through care, innovation, and compassion, the company has a growing portfolio of businesses committed to offering continuing improvement, accessibility, and quality of services with a vision to transform lives through care, creativity, and compassion. An example is Provide Digital, creating intelligent digital solutions for better health experiences.
As an employee-owned enterprise, Provide Community’s workforce of over 1200 colleagues are represented by a Council of Governors and is responsible for making key business decisions. These decisions include the workforce nominating local causes to benefit from funding and donation initiatives. To date, the company has donated over £4 million to charities, education, and community organisations.
Provide Community is also one of three organisations that make up Mid and South Essex Community Collaborative (MSECC), which has been nationally recognised as a regional exemplar for its sharing of best practice, collaboration, and innovation to improve the quality and efficiency of health and social care services.
Leave a Reply