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Within its resource constraints,
Wigan and Leigh hospice:
• provides specialist palliative care services, on as
broad and varied a basis as possible and at the highest
quality achievable, thereby aiming to enhance the quality
of life of individuals living with a
life-threatening illness
• offers needs-assessed support and advice to carers,
both during the illness of the patient and
in bereavement
• aims to complement and support other palliative care
providers, not taking over from them, but seeking
to collaborate with them to promote a seamless service for
people with specialist palliative care needs
• is committed to delivering needs-assessed, research
and evidence-based palliative care education, both
in-house and through outreach educational programmes.
Services Provided
Cardio-pulmonary Resuscitation
The Hospice does not have the facilities nor resources necessary
to undertake advanced cardio-pulmonary resuscitation. However,
in emergencies, all other appropriate measures will be taken.
In-Patient Care
12 beds for specialist palliative care:
• assessment/symptom control
• respite care
• rehabilitation
• terminal care
Most patients receive in-patient care for one to two weeks.
The Hospice does not offer medium or longer term care.
Day Hospice
Wigan and Leigh Day Hospice provides a friendly environment
in which patients can meet others with similar problems and
discuss worries, fears or troublesome symptoms with the hospice’s
specialist team.
Services available include:
• nursing care
• medical assessment and advice
• out-patients
• physiotherapy
• occupational therapy
• complementary therapies
• diversional therapies
• hairdressing and beauty therapies.
The Patient and Carer Support Service
• offers support and complementary therapies to people
who would like to learn ways to help them cope
with the demands of illness or of caring. Therapies offered
include aromatherapy, massage, hypnotherapy, counselling,
relaxation, acupuncture, touch therapy, reflexology, Reiki
and group and family work
• provides a flexible bereavement service
Hospice-Based Specialist Palliative
Care Nursing Team (SPCCNT)
This team is employed by Wigan and Leigh Hospice and is equivalent
to Macmillan teams elsewhere.
The team works in close liaison with a patient’s General
Practitioner Primary Care Team in:
• supporting the patient and their carer(s) at home
• informing the patient and their carer(s) about issues
relating to the patient’s illness
• advising on symptom control.
Before visiting, the team requires a referral from the patient’s
General Practitioner or hospital consultant and, in every
case, the approval of the General Practitioner. The team do
not offer
‘hands-on’ nursing care.
Physiotherapy and Occupational
Therapy Services
The role of the rehabilitation team is to support the patient
and carers as part of the Hospice inter-disciplinary team.
The primary aim is to help the patient achieve their maximal
potential function within their own limits and within a realistic
time scale, adjusting goals and treatments according to their
abilities and stage of illness.
The rehabilitation team aim to:
• give positive psychological support
• set realistic goals and incentives to achieve agreed
goals
• motivate patients to maintain reasonable functional
activity
• work with informal carers to enable them to cope more
effectively.
Education Department
Wigan and Leigh Hospice Education Department was established
in 1992. Since that time, nurses, health care workers and
social services staff have attended courses and have gained
experience in specialist palliative care. The Department continues
to develop and respond to changing health care education needs.
Our overall aim is to provide innovative approaches to palliative
care education, taking education out of the classroom into
the practice setting.
Voluntary Services Department
This service aims to strengthen and complement the work of
the Hospice inter-disciplinary team in delivering specialist
palliative care. It enables the Hospice to extend the practical
and supportive help that is offered to patients, relatives
and the bereaved. Volunteers work in in-patient care, Day
Hospice, reception, fundraising, retail shops, hairdressing,
laundry, sewing, flower arranging, transport - you name it,
they do it.
This service is managed by a Voluntary Services Co-ordinator.
The Co-ordinator recognises that volunteers working with people
living with a life-threatening illness may be exposed to emotionally
demanding environments. They often meet people at time of
crisis - the quality of selection and level
of training and support reflects these demands.
If anyone would like to discuss giving their support as a
volunteer, please contact the Voluntary Services Co-ordinator,
either in writing or by telephone.
The Fundraising Department
Aims to promote a sound financial base for the Hospice to
enable the staff to help other agencies
in providing the highest quality possible specialist palliative
care for the people of the Borough.
To achieve this goal the fund-raising team, together with
an ever-growing number of volunteers:
• organises and promotes diverse events throughout the
year
• sells Hospice merchandise
• organises and promotes The Hospice 2000 Lottery.
This is a vital regular source of income.
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