Hospiscare Together Magazine Autumn 2020

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Clinical round upHospiscare’s response to the coronavirus pandemicOur Director of Clinical Services, Tina Naldrett, explains how Hospiscare adaptedits care and services in response to the coronavirus pandemic.We adapted quickly to be there for our communityDuring the coronavirus pandemic, our communityteams have been responding by adapting the way wework while still maintaining our support for those inour care, particularly the most vulnerable.From mid-March, we responded by keeping the wardopen and changing our community services so wecould ensure our vulnerable groups were safe.Part of our response involved setting up a ClinicalCo-ordination Centre (CCC) at Searle House, whichbecame a single point of contact for all referralsand calls from patients, families and healthcareprofessionals.We designed the CCC to run 7 days-a-week andextended the operational hours to enable people tocontact us every day until 8pm. Following this, wecontinued to run our 24-hour, 7 days-a-week adviceline to ensure that our community was never without usand could contact our team whenever they needed to.This support has also been available for healthcareprofessionals throughout the pandemic, enabling themaccess to our expert knowledge of end-of-life care. Thishas enhanced the way we work in the community andwe are now considering how we can utilise the CCC inthe future.We made the difficult decision to suspend our dayhospice services in accordance with governmentguidelines as many of the people benefitting from thisservice were vulnerable and shielding. Instead, wesupported those same people through our communitynursing teams.Throughout the pandemic, we have kept our specialistward open, although we have had to make someadaptations for visitors based on governmentguidance. Our Hospiscare@Home 24/7 services inSeaton, Axminster, Exmouth, Budleigh Salterton andLympstone have continued to care for patients in theirhomes during the last weeks and days of their lives.4 | Because every day matters
We developed our use of technologyIn keeping with general practitioners, we are usingsecure video calling for consultations with patientsthrough a platform called AccuRX. This enables ourdoctors and nurses to communicate face-to-face withpatients and carers during this time without puttingpatients and staff at risk of contracting the virus.The staff at our hospice have been using secure virtualplatforms for clinical meetings and to keep in touchwith each other. With less time spent travelling, wehave noticed that we are able to spend more time withthe patients and families who need us. This has alsoallowed us to take advantage of our specialist palliativemedical team’s advice more readily and more often.After a year-long project, we launched our newHospiscare website. At this time when communicationis more important than ever, having a streamlinedplatform for advice, resources and information aboutour services is vital. Patients, families and healthcareprofessionals can use our new website to access awide range of support and information, from videosand digital leaflets to updates about our fundraisingactivities and Hospiscare shops.We worked together to overcome the difficultiesour charity facedOne of the testing things for us during the pandemichas been managing the volume of information fromthe government and specialist services. Our team hasreviewed every recommendation before deciding ifchanges need to be put into place. From mid-March tothe end of June, we reviewed and acted on 320 piecesof information relevant to managing care during theCOVID-19 pandemic.Looking after our staff at this time has presentedadditional challenges as many are working remotelyand therefore communication and inclusion hasbeen more important than ever. We have put in placeadditional touchpoints to ensure staff can voice theirquestions and access any support they need.Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) was sparse at firstand although the availability of PPE has now improved,we still have to monitor our stock levels and requireregular deliveries. We cannot thank our supportersenough for coming to our aid when we put out a call forPPE; their donations of PPE have been a huge help.The need for PPE has presented our charity with anew financial challenge. With many of our fundraisingevents cancelled and our shops only just beginningto re-open, our income was drastically affected. Weshared the news that we have predicted a minimumloss of £1 million this financial year due to the impactof coronavirus on our fundraising. The community’sresponse has been phenomenal and our supportershave found innovative ways of fundraising during thisdifficult time. We continue to face the challenge ofraising 85% of the funds needed to run our vital serviceand we are constantly adapting to meet this challenge.We have been missing our volunteers. In the early daysof the pandemic, we needed to reduce the footfall inour buildings to keep our patients safe and thereforevolunteers were unable to carry out their duties. Inaddition, many of our volunteers have been unable tofulfil their roles as they are part of a vulnerable group.We hope that in accordance with government guidance,we can begin to welcome volunteers back to our charitysafely over the coming months.www.hospiscare.co.uk | 5
Page 1 and 2: TogetherAutumn 2020 | News from you
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Page 9 and 10: Bereavement and care homes;What are
Page 11 and 12: Thank you to Alex Myers whocycled t
Page 13 and 14: Re-opening our Hospiscare shops:How
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Page 17 and 18: Volunteering spotlight:How we are w
Page 19 and 20: Dates for the DiaryVisit hospiscare

Hospiscare Together Magazine Autumn 2020

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