Palliative Care

Palliative care is the active holistic care of people with advanced, progressive illness.

Management of pain and other symptoms, and provision of psychological, social and spiritual support is very important.

The goal of palliative care is to achieve the best possible quality of life for patients and those close to them. Aspects of a palliative approach can be integrated into healthcare from diagnosis as well as later in the course of an illness. 

Palliative care at The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT)

Our palliative and end of life care team provides specialist advice to the ward teams for patients with a life-limiting condition, who require symptom management, specialist advice and support, and/or end of life care. ​

We are an advisory service working with ward clinical teams to provide holistic care for our patients. Hospital patients referred to us remain under the care of their managing consultant and ward team. We liaise closely with community colleagues including GPs, district nurses, community palliative care specialist nurses and local hospices. When patients are referred to our team, we undertake a holistic assessment to identify and manage complex palliative care needs, often signposting or referring on to other services in our hospital or the wider community. We help people at any point from diagnosis of a life-limiting condition to the last days of life.​

We also support family members and carers. Our goal is to enable provision of excellent palliative care for everyone who needs it at PAHT. Usually, we receive referrals from ward teams who want to access our advice. If you are a patient or someone close to a patient, and you feel you would benefit from palliative care team input, you can discuss with your treating team. We are also happy to be contacted by you directly. Please leave a voicemail if you do not get through to someone directly. Our contact number is 01279 827846 and we are on site from 8am to 4pm, Monday to Sunday. Your treating team is usually the best first contact for most queries about day-to-day issues.

End of life care

We support ward teams to identify when someone is no longer responding to treatments and is approaching the last days of life, to communicate honestly and compassionately about this possibility, and to involve patients and families in decision-making at this time. We work with ward teams to identify the needs of patients and families and to develop individualised care plans for proactively managing any symptoms, reducing distress, and anticipating other issues that may occur.

We recognise that some people may have wishes about where they would like to be at the end of their lives. These wishes may change over time and we will work with you, and the people most important to you, to determine what is possible and how we can support you to achieve your wishes.

When someone is recognised to be near the end of life, we understand that this is a very difficult time for those close to them. We will do all we can to provide practical support and information. You will be offered support with car parking and open visiting/staying at the hospital (if desired), and we will always try our best to meet other specific requests. Please ask your treating team about what support you can access.

  • Butterfly Volunteers: We have the support of Butterfly Volunteers who can spend time with people in the last days of life, providing vital support for families
  • Chaplaincy: We work closely with the hospital chaplaincy team who provide pastoral, spiritual and religious support to patients and their families, with or without a practising faith. If this is a service you would like to access, our team can contact them on your behalf, or they can be contacted directly on 01279 973407/01279 973183.
  • The Butterfly Hub is a room for families on the hospital’s lower ground floor, next to the chaplaincy office. This calm and quiet space with facilities for resting and tea/coffee can be made available for families of someone near to end of life on request. Please ask the Butterfly Volunteers, chaplaincy, or a member of the palliative care team if you would like to access this room.

How to contact us

The Specialist Palliative Care team work on site Monday to Sunday from 8am to 4pm.

The main contact telephone number is 01279 827846. If you do not receive an immediate response or are calling out of hours, please leave a voicemail. Urgent queries about inpatients should be directed to your treating team.

We are based on site at The Princess Alexandra Hospital, Hamstel Road, Harlow, CM20 1QX.

Useful resources

Websites​

Patient leaflets

Marie Curie​

Isabel Hospice​

St Clare Hospice​

Information about partner organisations: hospices and charities

Many (but not all) people admitted to The Princess Alexandra Hospital fall into the catchment area for Isabel Hospice or St Clare Hospice, ​whose websites give further information about the services they offer.​

The Specialist Palliative Care Team work closely with these hospices and other hospices as appropriate, and aim to provide coordinated care when people are admitted to or discharged from the hospital. 

Macmillan Cancer Support are a charity that provide help for people with cancer and those close to them. For more information about Macmillan, visit Macmillan Cancer Support​.

The Princess Alexandra Hospital is supported by the Butterfly Volunteer Service. Butterfly Volunteers are specially trained to support people in the last days or hours of their life and to provide support for families. Please ask your treating team to refer your loved one to the Butterfly Volunteers if you feel they would benefit from this. Please contact [email protected] if you would like to consider training to become a Butterfly Volunteer. 

About the team

The Palliative and End of Life Care team consists of clinical nurse specialists and palliative medicine doctors.

Blankets for End of Life Care

  • We have generous volunteers who knit and crochet blankets for our patients who are receiving end of life care
  • These blankets can provide warmth, colour and a personal touch for patients and are donated through the Specialist Palliative Care team or the Butterfly Volunteers
  • If you or someone close to you would like to use a blanket, please contact our team or the Butterfly Volunteer team to discuss

If you are kindly considering donating a blanket, please call 01279 827846 to arrange a suitable date/time.​ Blankets can be delivered to the Specialist Palliative Care office, opposite Gibberd Ward (Building 6), from Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm. Blankets to please be approximately 48 inches by 48 inches (122 x 122cm).