Referrals
The referral process for accessing services at St Catherine’s Hospice varies slightly depending on the nature of a person's condition and the type of care needed. Broadly speaking, however, people are always referred to St Catherine's by a healthcare professional and we prioritise referrals on the basis of appropriate type of care and severity of need: we do not operate a first come first served system.
In-Patient Unit
In-patient referrals are made by a person's GP, hospital doctor or community Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) team member. It is important that a person is informed about the referral and we always check that this is the case.
We review all current referrals each morning, contacting the relevant professional for further information if we do not think we have a complete picture. We always prioritise admissions depending on a person's clinical and social needs. In some cases we may decide that day therapy or community care is a more appropriate choice and often we will refer a person on to these services as an interim measure while they wait for a bed to become available.
When a bed becomes available, we contact the referring professional to arrange admission. The period of admission varies depending on individual need and it is always our intention to help people to manage their symptoms and reach a level of comfort that will enable them to choose to return home if possible.. Some patients will die at the Hospice under the care of our highly experienced staff.
Day Therapy Unit
Day Therapy referrals are made by a person's GP, hospital doctor or CNS team member and we scrutinise all referrals carefully to decide what type of Day Therapy is most appropriate for each individual. To help us do this, we may ask a person to undergo a medical and / or nursing assessment.
Once an approach to Day Therapy that suits an individual has been agreed we can usually offer treatment within a very short period of time.
Community Clinical Nurse Specialist Service (CNS)
Referrals to our community team are made by a person's GP, hospital doctor or hospital CNS and are made direct to St Catherine's community clinical nurse specialist team.
The Hospice community team manages each referral to ensure that they have as much information as they require to fully-assess the level of need so that they can prioritise effectively. The clinical nurse specialist will then make a person's appointment.
(Sometimes people confuse St Catherine's Clinical Nurse Specialists with Macmillan Nurses so it is important to explain that St Catherine's CNS team is not funded through Macmillan but through charitable donations to St Catherine's.)
Lymphoedema Service
Referrals from a person's GP, hospital doctor or CNS team member are tracked directly to our Lymphoedema team who will assess clinical need and gather any additional information that they may require.
The Lymphoedema Service will then make an appointment directly with a patient, ensuring that any other healthcare professionals involved are kept informed.
