Hospice at Home End-of-Life Care Professional Referral Criteria

HospiceCare Hospice at Home service for palliative and end-of-life care to support and enable patients to stay in their usual residence or preferred place of care. Hospice at Home delivers practical care and support to adults aged 18 years and over, who are living with a terminal illness, requiring palliative input.

The care is provided within a person’s home by our dedicated team of healthcare assistants 365 days a year. We provide regular visits based on an individual's need following assessment by appropriate healthcare professionals, which are often community nurses.

Our visits can be designed to provide regular personal care, respite care, and/or overnight care with an emphasis on promoting quality of life. Our healthcare assistants are all highly experienced in palliative care and deliver person-centered care with empathy and professionalism and as a support to loved ones. There is no charge to individuals at the point of care delivery. The service provided includes full night shifts, regular daily visits up to 3 visits per day, and respite care. Care needs are reviewed daily and service allocation is prioritised on a patient-needs basis. Care is predominantly provided by nursing assistants with appropriate knowledge and experience in palliative and EoL care.

Reviews and assessments will involve input from our registered nurses in collaboration with existing healthcare professionals i.e. GPs, Macmillan nurse, District nurse.

Referral Criteria for H@H Provision:

• Additional holistic needs of patients that are not able to be met by other agencies

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• The patient must meet Fast track criteria

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• Referral via health care professional

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• Patients and their families understand and agree to the service

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• Patients should be identified on the Gold Standards Framework register

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• Agreement for essential equipment to be in place/on order to ensure patient and staff safety

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• To facilitate rapid discharge from secondary care for EoLc or to prevent hospital admission if appropriate

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• For EoL care, a prognosis

Referrer confirms or requests the following updated documents:

• Risks and/or lone working hazards identified

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• Anticipatory Medication and Equipment, with current anticipatory medication prescription chart

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• DNAR CPR decision and form

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• EHCP or TEP in place