Community Specialist Palliative Care
Community Specialist Palliative Care for patients of University Hospitals Dorset is provided by a team with bases at Forest Holme Hospice (covering Poole) and the Macmillan Unit (covering Bournemouth and Christchurch).
What is specialist palliative care?
Who it’s for
- People with advanced, life limiting illness with complex symptoms or psychosocial needs
Core Purpose
Improve quality of life by providing:
- Expert symptom management
- Emotional and psychological support
- Social and practical support
- Advance care planning and decision making help
How this service can help
- Managing symptoms such as pain, breathlessness, sickness or fatigue
- Emotional support if you’re feeling worried, low or overwhelmed
- Practical advice about equipment, benefits or help at home
- Support for family and carers
- Planning ahead so your wishes are known and respected
Who is in the team?
You may meet:
- Specialist palliative care nurses
- Palliative care doctors
- Therapists (physiotherapists and occupational therapists)
They work closely with your GP, district nurses and any other hospital or community teams involved in your care.
Where you can receive support
- In your own home
- At outpatient clinics
- By phone
Support is tailored to what you need — some people just need to be seen once, others need ongoing input and many people will need support on and off over the course of their illness.
How it fits with your other care
This service does not replace your usual care. It adds an extra layer of support when things feel difficult or symptoms become harder to manage.
What happens when I am referred?
You will be contacted either by the person who is going to be seeing you or one of the team and they will arrange a convenient time to see you.
If you have not heard from us and are expecting to, you can call 0300 019 5470 (also 0300 019 8115) and choose option 1 for Forest Holme or option 2 for Macmillan Unit.
24/7 telephone advice
Patients of the UHD Community Specialist Palliative Care service can call 24/7 for advice on 0300 019 5470 for patients of Macmillan Unit and 0300 019 8115 for patients of Forest Holme. In day time hours your call will go to one of the Clinical Nurse Specialists and outside these times your call will go through to the hospice ward teams. They are not able to come out and review you immediately but can give advice and support. If appropriate they may be able to arrange urgent review from our doctors/therapists or Hospice at Home service.
Self-referrals
You are able to refer yourself to the Specialist Palliative Care team but we would strongly recommend that you discuss it with the healthcare professionals looking after you instead and ask them to refer you. They will be able to tell you if they think you need to be referred and if not which services can better meet your needs and refer you to them. If healthcare professionals make the referral it will mean that we have all of the information we need and everyone that needs to be aware is aware.
We only accept referrals for patients with life-limiting illnesses and complex needs that can’t be met by the other services involved with their treatment and care.
To make a self-referral please call 0300 019 5470 or 0300 019 8115 and choose option 1 for Forest Holme (Poole) or option 2 for Macmillan Unit (Bournemouth and Christchurch).
