Birmingham Hospice has launched a new service to help people across Birmingham and Solihull to access specialist end of life and palliative care in their own homes, helping them to stay in familiar surroundings near their loved ones.
The SPUR (Specialist Palliative Urgent Response) service, which starts on Monday 12 January, will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It takes calls from patients and their families, as well as healthcare professionals, and either offer advice, signpost to relevant services, or arrange a home visit within two hours, bringing our expert skills directly into people’s homes in times of crisis.
The initiative responds to longstanding gaps in out-of-hours palliative care provision, particularly overnight, where fragmented services have often led to undue stress for families and increased pressure on local emergency departments.
It complements our current Specialist Community Palliative Care service, which provides support from 8am – 8pm. The intention is that, by providing a single point of contact, patients and their families will be able to receive the support they need more quickly.
A total of 28 new jobs have been created to operate the new service in clinical and administrative positions. The service is being delivered by Birmingham Hospice in partnership with Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board.
Paul Bytheway, Chief Executive at Birmingham Hospice, said: “This service will help patients remain in their preferred place of care and reduce unnecessary hospital admissions by providing wraparound support.
“It will reduce the exhaustion and anxiety we know can occur when patients, loved ones and carers don’t know where to turn. Patients should not have to wait until business or operating hours to receive relief from pain or distress – every person deserves the dignity of expert care at any hour of the day or night.
“We only have one chance to get end of life care right and, with this service, we hope to transform the end-of-life experience from one of crisis into one of comfort, safety and dignity.”
Sally Roberts, Chief Clinical and Quality Officer for NHS Birmingham and Solihull and NHS Black Country, said: “We are pleased that more people will benefit from specialist care going forward, at what is often the most difficult and emotional time in their lives.
“We know that when patients receive timely, expert support in familiar surroundings, it helps prevent crises from escalating and ensures care is delivered in the most appropriate setting; something which our partners are working hard to deliver but also reflects the national ambition to move care closer to home.
“We hope this more responsive service will not only improve patient experience – by keeping people in familiar surroundings with their loved ones – but it also free up emergency resources for those who need to receive acute care.”
Funding for the SPUR service has been provided by the now-closed Macmillan Cancer Support End of Life Care Fund. Through an outcomes-based approach, Macmillan is helping to change the way health and care services are funded, so more people receive the personalised, flexible support they need and deserve. A key focus of this work is integrating palliative and end of life care services locally, improving patient outcomes and reducing avoidable hospital stays by ensuring care is delivered where people are most comfortable: at home.
Richard Ball, Head of System Investments at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “For many people approaching the end of their lives, repeated trips to hospital can add unnecessary distress at an already difficult time. Services like SPUR are about offering a better alternative; making sure people can access specialist palliative support quickly, in their own homes and communities, when they need it most.
“Through the Macmillan End of Life Care Fund, we are backing new ways of delivering care that focus on what really matters to patients and families: personalised support, fewer hospital admissions and a more joined-up experience. By investing in services that demonstrate real improvements in outcomes, we can continue to reinvest in approaches that help more people receive high quality, compassionate care close to home.”
To access the service, from 8am-10pm please contact HoBS (Hospices of Birmingham and Solihull) on 0121 809 1900. Overnight (10pm-8am), please use our dedicated hotline number 0300 555 1919 (select option 2).
