Hospice expands its services to support local care homes

Amid growing reports of the huge impact of the coronavirus on the care homes sector, the Chief Executive of Thames Hospice in Windsor has written to care homes offering them access to the hospice’s community services to support their residents.

CEO Debbie Raven said: “As we have seen across our entire health system, organisations are having to continually change and adapt in the face of this unprecedented situation.

“At Thames Hospice we reviewed our existing services and made the decision to expand our Community Team to support and care for more patients in their own homes, to help reduce the risk and spread of infection and, where possible, to avoid admission to hospital.”

Debbie continued: “We also felt it was critical to reach out to our fellow local health care partners and offer them access to our services to help them continue to provide the highest level of care and support to their residents.”

Local care homes can call the hospice’s 24-hour telephone advice line for support and advice if they are concerned about a resident’s health. The hospice can also arrange for its clinical team to visit a care home resident and provide medical support, as well as admission to the Inpatient Unit for symptom management or end-of-life care.

Debbie added: “One of the most humbling aspects of the coronavirus so far is the willingness of so many people who work in health and social care to risk their own health and wellbeing to give the care, support and treatment urgently needed by so many people across the UK. Together we can, and we will beat this.”

Read our article on how Covid-19 is impacting a London care home

For more information visit Thames Hospice