Palliative and End of Life care

Our specialist end of life teams are always compassionate and sensitive when delivering end of life care at home.

Palliative care at home allows the client to stay in the place they feel most comfortable. Direct Care can provide specialist support whenever it is needed, whether it is personal care, support with pain management, administering medication, cooking meals or sharing memories over a cup of tea. Our care team will support the client’s wishes and needs. We regularly work alongside continuing health care teams and district nurses to offer quality care.

Our specialist teams are trained to provide compassionate, sensitive and pain controlled support when delivering end of life care at home.
It is very reassuring to families to the know their loved ones are cared for with dignity in the best possible way.

Direct Care work together with clients and their families, social workers, District Nurses, GP’s and Palliative CareTeam to ensure clients receive the expert care they need, in the place they feel most comfortable. We can support your loved one to develop an advanced care plan which states their needs and wishes for their end of life care and what is important to them, enabling confidence, comfort, and a feeling of being more in control of their support.

Care at Home

Many people nearing the end of their lives want to stay in their own home for as long as possible. This can usually be arranged with help from a combination of community Palliative Care Nurses, District Nurses, GP’s and Social Services.

Who can help?

Your GP can usually arrange for district nurses and community palliative care nurses, such as Marie Curie nurses, to come to your home. They can help with things like

  • Controlling your pain and symptoms
  • providing hands on nursing care
  • giving practical and emotional support

Help from Social Services

Social services may be able to organise for a care provider like ourselves to come to your home and provide help with personal care, laundry, as well as meal and drink perpetration. If you feel you would benefit from some support then you, your family or a friend, can contact social services and ask for an assessment.
If you or your carers are found to have care or support needs then your local authority has a duty to meet these needs. You may have to contribute towards the costs of your care or Social Services may pay for all of it. It will depend on the amount of savings you have and any income you may earn.

NHS Continuing Health Care for complex care needs

If you have complex ongoing health care needs then you may be eligible for NHS Continuing Health Care funding (CHC). CHC packages are solely funded by the NHS and are for people who are not in hospital. If you are eligible you may be able to get help with the day to day routines.
The process involved in NHS continuing health care assessments can be complex. An organisation called Beacon gives free independent advice or NHS CHC.