24/7 Specialist Palliative Care Telephone Advice Line
24/7 Specialist Palliative Care Telephone Advice Line
Willowbrook Hospice provides a 24-hour specialist palliative care telephone advice line service for healthcare professionals working in St Helens, Knowsley and Halton.
Tel: 0330 058 2850
- Primary health care teams e.g. District Nurse, GPs
- Out of Hours services
- Nursing Home staff
- Hospital staff
How does it work?
During normal working hours calls would be directed to the most appropriate team, the Hospice, Hospital or Community Specialist palliative Care Teams.
Out of hours calls are answered by a Senior Nurse at Willowbrook Hospice. Most of the calls can be dealt with by the experienced nursing team but where the enquiry requires Medical Advice, there are two tiers of medical support i.e. clinical assistants supported by an on-call Consultant in Palliative Medicine or experienced Associate Specialist.
Telephone calls are recorded for training and quality purposes. The advice given is recorded onto a proforma and checked within 24 hours by a senior clinician working at the Hospice. The proforma is then faxed to the relevant service and follow up contact is made as appropriate.
Feedback from current users says that the SPC Telephone Advice Line helps to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions and provides timely, expert support for healthcare professionals allowing patients to be cared for with greater confidence in their own home.
Specialist Palliative Care Advice
The Specialist Palliative Care Advice Line provides a fast and efficient service for routine and emergency advice, providing not only excellent support out of hours but also enabling healthcare professionals to gain access to specialist advice at any time of the day all year.
The advice line enables clinical teams to concentrate on their own areas of expertise, confident that there is specialist support if required.
Key features of the service
The main features of the 24/7 Specialist Palliative Care Telephone Advice Line service are:
- A dedicated telephone advice line
- Available 24 hours a day, 365 days per year
- Provides timely advice for better patient care
- Provides a robust channel of professional support to healthcare professionals resulting in a more confident and informed workforce
Access
The service is available to:
- Primary health care teams e.g. District Nurse, GPs
- Out of Hours services
- Nursing Home staff
- Hospital staff
How does it work?
During normal working hours calls would be directed to the most appropriate team, the Hospice, Hospital or Community Specialist palliative Care Teams.
Out of hours calls are answered by a Senior Nurse at Willowbrook Hospice. Most of the calls can be dealt with by the experienced nursing team but where the enquiry requires Medical Advice, there are two tiers of medical support i.e. clinical assistants supported by an on-call Consultant in Palliative Medicine or experienced Associate Specialist.
Telephone calls are recorded for training and quality purposes. The advice given is recorded onto a proforma and checked within 24 hours by a senior clinician working at the Hospice. The proforma is then faxed to the relevant service and follow up contact is made as appropriate.
Feedback from current users says that the SPC Telephone Advice Line helps to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions and provides timely, expert support for healthcare professionals allowing patients to be cared for with greater confidence in their own home.
