Community Specialist Team

Our nurses visit patients and families wherever they call home. They provide ongoing advice and support as a combination of visits and phone calls which often include a lot of family involvement.

The team help manage complex problems and concerns that are important to people, which may be physical, psychological and spiritual in nature.

We work in partnership with the NHS to improve quality of life and to help people cope with the impact of illness and treatment. There is an emphasis on a coordinated approach between the Hospice, hospital and community services to promote seamless support for patients and families.

The wider team supports patients, families, and carers to ensure people can remain in their own homes by providing education to carers and working closely with the West Suffolk Hospital’s Early Intervention Teams to try and avoid unnecessary admission to hospital.

The team

St Nicholas Hospice Care Community Nursing Team comprises Hospice Specialist Nurses, Senior Registered Nurses and Senior Hospice Care Assistants all working together to provide excellent palliative care across the West Suffolk and Thetford area.

Our Community Nurses are highly experienced and work in partnership with GPs, district nurses and hospital professionals.

Our nurses visit patients and families wherever they call home. They provide ongoing advice and support as a combination of visits and phone calls which often include a lot of family involvement. Once issues are resolved and following a multi-disciplinary review, patients are often discharged from our caseload and encouraged to re-refer themselves should any further concerns arise.

Our nursing team help manage complex problems and concerns that are important to people, which may be physical, psychological and spiritual in nature. We work in partnership with the NHS to improve quality of life and to help people cope with the impact of illness and treatment. There is an emphasis on a coordinated approach between the Hospice, hospital and community services to promote seamless support for patients and families.

We also have Hospice Care Assistants within the community team who are also highly trained in palliative care. They support patients, families, and carers to ensure patients can be looked after in their own home if they wish by providing education to carers social and emotional support. They work closely with West Suffolk Hospital’s Early Intervention Team (EIT) and Marie Curie to try and keep patients from unnecessarily going into the hospital.