Palliative care is the active holistic care of patients who have advanced progressive illness. The overarching principle of palliative care is to achieve the best quality of life for patients and their families.
Palliative care aims to;
- Provide relief from pain and other distressing symptoms
- Acknowledges that the physiological, social and spiritual aspects of care are equally important as the physical well being
- Offers a support system to help patients live as actively as possible until death, whilst supporting families to cope throughout the patients period of illness and then into their own period of bereavement
Palliative care is available from all Doctors, nurses, and staff who provide day to day care for patients and their families, for example, GP’s and district nurses. The Hospice staff are specialists in palliative care, for example, Consultant Doctors in Palliative Medicine and Clinical Nurse Specialist in Palliative Care. Some patients who have
- Complex pain and symptom management problems
- Psychosocial issues
- Difficult to manage end of life problems
- Complex bereavement needs
will benefit from a referral to a Specialist Palliative Care Unit such as Wakefield Hospice.
