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Call us on 01788 422422Office Monday to Friday, 9:00am – 5:00pm · On-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
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Care at home
Most people say they would rather be at home at the end. Whether that is possible usually comes down to whether the practical care is covered — and whether the family gets to sleep.
This is the part families most often misunderstand, so we say it plainly. District nurses and the hospice team manage symptoms, pain relief and anything involving a syringe driver. We do the washing, dressing, mouth care, changing the bed, helping someone turn comfortably. Both are needed and they are not the same job.
Families can often manage the days. What breaks them is three weeks of broken sleep. A carer overnight, even a couple of nights a week, is frequently what makes staying at home possible rather than a hospital admission that nobody wanted.
Visits at this stage are not about getting through a task list. Sometimes the useful thing is sitting with someone so their wife can have a bath without listening out. We would rather book a longer visit and do it properly than send someone for twenty minutes.
The person who is dying is not our only concern. A husband who has not eaten a proper meal in a fortnight is part of what we are dealing with, and often we are the only outsider in the house who notices.
We would rather you knew this now than found out later.
We are one part of this. These are the people who do the things we cannot, and they are free.
The clinical lead for end of life care at home. Arranged through the GP.
Specialist palliative nursing and support in the home, often overnight.
Nursing care and a free support line for anyone affected by dying and bereavement.
If a district nurse or hospice team is already involved, tell us who they are and we will fit around what is already in place rather than duplicating it.
Worried about the cost? The council pays towards care at home for more people than realise it, and Attendance Allowance is not means-tested at all. See how paying for care works.