St Francis Hospice (SFH) - community cash fund

The services:

• A person who was in the Inpatient Unit
• A person receiving care in their home by the Hospice
• A person attending a support group or clinic in Pemberton Place

They did this by asking 28 people on the wards to complete a survey.

They found that:-

• More resources are required regarding educating/awareness in seeking advice or treatment earlier as many did not see their GP for a long time.
• The waiting time for hospital and then consultant referral was mainly good/excellent but not consistent across the board differing on each clinic.
• The availability of leaflets etc. suggests that a review of information on various diagnoses could be improved.

Whilst overall people felt they were kept informed of their condition they felt health professionals could be better at asking patients if they understood the information given to them, or if they have any concerns or queries regarding treatment and prognosis.  This would also allow more people to have a chance to state their wishes, although most felt that were appropriately assessed.

• Over half of those needing hospital transport felt it was good/excellent but the others often had very poor experiences.
• The Majority felt that hospital staff answered their questions well but time restraints meant that it could be better.
• The success of pain management was very mixed.
• Almost everyone felt the experience of being referred to SFH was good/excellent.
• Half experienced loneliness and isolation and SFH felt this could be addressed at the original assessment.