You can search our directory for your nearest hospice and palliative care services.
Care in people's own home
Many people wish to be looked after in their own home. This is made possible by community palliative care professionals and Hospice at Home services who will visit patients in their own home or care home.
Community palliative care professionals offer specialist care to the patient, their family and carers including:
Hospice professionals work closely with GPs and community nurses to plan and deliver care.
Hospice at Home services allow people to receive hospice care in their own home. This may be care when someone is getting near to the end of their life, respite care (to give their carers a break), or it may just be care during a difficult time. Some teams can offer nursing care 24 hours a day.
Marie Curie Nurses
Marie Curie Nurses care for people in the last few months or weeks of their lives. They generally spend several hours at a time in a person’s home providing nursing care and emotional support, often overnight. They are available throughout the UK and their support can be requested by a district nurse.
Day care support
Day care gives people the chance to spend time in a hospice without being admitted as an inpatient. This will allow them to get the care and support they need while living at home. The care and support offered includes:
Day care also gives people the chance to meet other people going through similar experiences.
Outpatient services
Increasing numbers of hospices are offering outpatient services to patients including consultation appointments with health professionals, access to information and drop in services, self management facilities and rehabilitation opportunities.
Inpatient units
Some people are admitted to a hospice or palliative care inpatient unit at an early stage of their illness for a short period of intensive care, for example 10 to 14 days, and they will then go home or to another care setting. It could be for rehabilitation after treatment, or to control their symptoms (for example, pain, nausea or vomiting). People may also be admitted to a hospice during the final stages of their illness.
Hospital based care
There are palliative care teams that work in hospitals alongside medical and nursing colleagues, and other health and social care professionals. Their role is to support the hospital staff by providing education, training and specialist advice on controlling pain and other symptoms.
The team will also provide emotional support to patients and their carers, and will advise staff on planning for when people go home or transfer to another care setting such as a hospice, community hospital or care home. In some hospitals there is a whole team, including doctors, nurses, social workers and chaplains, while in others a single nurse provides the service. These teams will often work closely with their local hospice and may even be part of the hospice.
International
There are now hospice and palliative care initiatives throughout the world. The international team can help to put you in touch with these services, or you can use our international directory to find services and national palliative care organisations around the world.
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