Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB
A new service is helping more people in Mid and North Nottinghamshire get the right end of life care in a place of their choice.
The End of Life Referral Hub has a team of care navigators and clinical experts who can take referrals from hospitals or GPs and set up a package of care tailored to each person’s needs.
This is helping people to be discharged from hospital more quickly and receive care from a range of services in the place of their choice, such as at home, in a hospice or a care home.
The service is provided by the North Nottinghamshire End of Life Together Alliance*, a partnership of health providers, hospice services and voluntary sector organisations.
As part of this approach, the Hospice at Home service has been expanded to care for an additional 1000 people in Newark & Sherwood, Mansfield, Ashfield and Bassetlaw.
Dr Kathy McLean, Chair of the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board, officially opened the End of Life Referral Hub on a visit this week.
Kathy said: “End of life care is one of our key priorities and this service is already demonstrating that it is improving outcomes for patients and their families.
“By having an expert team to get the right support in place, people are being discharged from hospital more quickly and cared for in a place of their choice. While I was visiting the Hub, the team reported that they had just set up a package of care for a man who was in Kings Mill Hospital within 30 minutes!
“The End of Life Referral Hub brings together a range of organisations and I want to pay tribute to the hard work everyone has put in to get the service up and running.”
Louise Sinclair, Chief Executive for Beaumond House Hospice, the Lead provider for the service, said: “Most people prefer to die at home or in another community setting and our service helps to set up the wrap-around care from different agencies to support this. We work closely with people and their families to find out what they need and build relationships so they feel supported, empowered and involved every step of the way.”
Carl Ellis, Head of Service for the North Nottinghamshire End of Life Together Alliance, said: “We are also working hard to link in with neighbourhood teams so other organisations are more aware of what we can offer. We plan to deliver training to people from other services to help them recognise when someone is reaching the end of their life and educate them about the support that can be offered in a community setting so we can reduce unnecessary hospital admissions.”
The End of Life Referral Hub began accepting referrals in April and is now operating across North Nottinghamshire. The service is continuing to develop, with recruitment underway to increase capacity and support more people to receive timely end of life care.
The Referral Hub currently operates Monday to Friday and is working towards a seven day service. It is staffed by a team of care navigators and a registered practitioner providing clinical triage, based at John Eastwood Hospice in Ashfield, with satellite bases in Newark, Edwinstowe and Bassetlaw. The lead provider, Beaumond House Hospice Care, delivers end of life care seven days a week, supported by partners across the Alliance. The hours of operation are Monday to Friday: 9am – 5pm and Saturday and Sunday: 9am – 4pm.
*The North Nottinghamshire End of Life Together Alliance is made up of:
