4,000 home visits for Hospice team

Date Published: 06-May-2008

GALWAY Hospice’s Home Care team of Clinical Nurse Specialists, who work in close collaboration with GPs, made 3,913 home visits in 2007, providing care to patients in their preferred location — their own homes.

The hospice said this week that there were also 947 attendancesto the Day Care service, where patients availed of various recreational and therapeutic services, as well as ongoing medical/nursing review.

The focus of both the Home Care and Day Care services,the Hospice said, was to assist patients in remaining out of hospital or in-patient hospice units for as long as possible, helping them to lead as normal a life as possible, for as long as possible.

“Our patients invariably want to be cared for at home, in familiar surroundings, and supported by their family and friends. Where this becomes impossible due to complexity of symptoms, illness progression and care requirements, the Hospice in-patient unit provides a comforting environment for optimum care,” said Mari Gallagher, Director of Nursing at the Hospice.

The Home Care and Day Care services are funded entirely by voluntary contributions.The running costs for the In-patient Unit are funded almost totally by the HSE.

In 2007, 160 patients were cared for at this purpose-built facility in Renmore. Plans are underway to expand the current in-patient facility to accommodate 26 in-patient beds and enhanced therapy ……………….