THE new End of Life Care Co-ordination Hub, a unique model that sees Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust and its partners deliver joined up, co-ordinated care, launched last week at Sandwell Hospital.
This ‘New Connected Palliative Care’ Service is a collaborative work between John Taylor Hospice, Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice, CrossRoads Care, Age Concern, and Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust. The service has been commissioned by Sandwell and West Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Group to deliver End-of-Life-Care services to people who are registered with a Sandwell and West Birmingham GP.
The End-of-Life care Co-ordination Hub is located at Sandwell Hospital and provides access to a wide range of services for patients in their last year of life including hospice beds, domestic support and specialist palliative care.
The hub is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week; patients can call any time day or night and speak to a nurse who can provide advice and support and refer them to other services if needed.
SWBH Nurse Manager & Service Lead Palliative and End-Of-Life Care Tammy Davies said: “The launch was a perfect opportunity for us to showcase to our local community the End-Of-Life care support that we provide. We have built a central hub which acts as a one-stop-shop for patients, carers and healthcare professionals. This will enable us to work directly with everyone who is involved in the care of patients to make plans and organise special care if necessary.
“Our ultimate goal is to provide the best support to patients and their family during a difficult time. We offer advice and support to cope with illness and refer patients and carers to whichever special care they need.”
Professor Nick Harding, GP and Chair of Sandwell and West Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “A great deal of work has taken us to this point in listening to patients, carers and providers; evaluating what was already on offer; developing a model with a co-ordination hub, urgent/crisis response team, and 24/7 access; and the appointment of the Trust as the main provider working with local hospices and voluntary organisations.”
Chief Executive of Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice, Tina Swani said: Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice is delighted with this unique opportunity to be involved with the Connected Palliative Care partnership. It is our belief that collaboration is central to ensuring individuals, families and carers come first and through partnerships like this we hope to improve end of life and palliative care for people living in Sandwell and West Birmingham. We look forward to reaching out to more local people to provide ‘Hospice care for all’ and support whenever they need us, however they need us.”
