APPENDIX 6
Memorandum by St Barnabas Hospital (PC
6)
St Barnabas Hospice was established some 22
years ago and now provides a comprehensive range of services across
the greater part of Lincolnshire, from Caistor in the north east
down to Crowland in the south east. We provide services in urban
conurbations as well as to significant rural areas.
Our service provision is comprehensive and includes
In-Patient care, Day Hospice and Hospice at Home Service and to
this end we would be willing to work with the Health Committee
in examining the provision of Hospice and palliative care services.
CHOICE IN
CARE PROVISION
We provide In-Patient care from our main centre
based in Lincoln but have five-day care hospices situated across
Lincolnshire and from these we have bases for our hospice at home
teams who work alongside district nurses and Marie Curie to provide
elements of 24 hour nursing care.
EQUITY
Provision of services in a geographical sense
for day care and hospice at home services is equitable. However,
the provision of adequate In-Patient facilities is not the only
facility being in Lincoln. Attempts have been made to address
the needs of younger people but the greater focus of care tends
to be for those patients who are middle aged and upwards.
COMMUNICATION
St Barnabas Hospice is not a religious organisation
and would provide services for patients irrespective of their
culture, religious or ethnic backgrounds. Genuine attempts are
made to provide packages of care tailored to suit the individual
needs of both patients and their families.
SUPPORT SERVICES
Some positive links have been developed with
Social Services in terms of providing packages of care. An important
element of our service provision is welfare support to avoid financial
hardship and pain at what is already a difficult time for families.
QUALITY
We undertake quality assurance and audits of
our services. We have done this on a consortia basis with three
other other hospices based in Grantham, Grimsby and Scunthorpe.
MEETING SERVICE
USERS' NEEDS
Clearly there are areas where we can improve
our service provision. This will be reflected through the audit
programme as it develops. However, again this is subject to funding
being made available.
GOVERNANCE
We have a robust clinical governance programme
well established within the organisation. We have fostered positive
links with key personnel working in the mainstream NHS, both in
the acute and primary care sectors.
WORKFORCE ISSUE
We are fortunate in St Barnabas in that we have
a healthcare lecturer who is a joint appointment between ourselves
and Nottingham University. She works three days per week for St
Barnabas and two days per week for the University. Again, we have
pursued positive links through the consortia arrangement for education
and personal development of staff.
SUPPLY AND
RETENTION
Recruitment and retention of staff who are qualified
healthcare professionals is an issue for us. Currently we have
been unable to recruit any accredited consultants to work in Lincolnshire.
This is clearly a significant concern for us. Allied health professionals
are another area where there is some difficulty in recruiting
staff. On the nursing front, this varies from geographical location
to geographical location but competition for recruitment will
continue to be an issue.
FINANCING
Our budget for the coming financial year is
estimated at approximately £3.2 million. Over 60% of this
has to be raised by our own organisation with the balance coming
from the Health Commissioners. We receive no funding from local
authorities.
THE IMPACT
AND EFFECTIVENESS
OF GOVERNMENT
POLICY
The National Service Frameworks, Cancer Plan
and NICE Guidance and also the Care Standards Commission are all
helping to shape people's thinking and making both acute and primary
care services realise how important the provision of good palliative
care services is. Working with the voluntary sector can help to
take pressure off district nursing services, facilitate early
discharge, keep people in their own homes and offer them a choice
over their place of death, which in turn can impact on freeing
up beds in the acute sector, which can then make the use of acute
beds more efficient.
In closing we would again state that we would
be only too willing to be involved in what we see as a vitally
important area of consideration by the Health Committee.
February 2004
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