Palliative Care

If you’ve been told you may not get better, you might also have heard about palliative care. Palliative care is for people living with a terminal illness where a cure is no longer possible. It’s not just for people diagnosed with terminal cancer, but any terminal condition. It’s also for people who have a complex illness and need their symptoms controlled. Although these people usually have an advanced, progressive condition, this isn’t always the case.

Palliative care aims to treat or manage pain and other physical symptoms. It will also help with any psychological, social or spiritual needs. Treatment will involve medicines, therapies, and any other support that specialist teams believe will help their patients. It includes caring for people who are nearing the end of life. This is called end of life care.

The goal is to help you and everyone affected by your diagnosis to achieve the best quality of life. You might receive palliative care alongside particular treatments, therapies and medicines, such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

• improves quality of life
• gives relief from pain and other distressing symptoms
• supports life and keeping people as healthy as possible, regarding dying as a normal process
• doesn’t quicken or postpone death
• combines psychological and spiritual aspects of care
• offers a support system to help people live as actively as possible until death
• offers a support system to help the family cope during a person’s treatment and in bereavement
• uses a team approach to address the needs of the person who is ill and their families
• also applies to the earlier stages of illness, alongside other therapies that are aimed at prolonging life can take place in hospitals, hospices but also in people’s homes

End of life care is an important part of palliative care for people who are nearing the end of life. End of life care is for people who are considered to be in the last year of life, but this time-frame can be difficult to predict.

End of life care aims to help people live as well as possible and to die with dignity. It also refers to treatment during this time and can include additional support, such as help with legal matters. End of life care continues for as long as you need it.

The professionals who provide this care fall into two main groups:

1. General care

Those who give day-to-day care to patients with advanced illness and their family and friends, such as your GP, community nurses

2. Specialist care

Experts in palliative care, such as consultants in palliative medicine or clinical nurse specialists.

You’re likely to need both general and specialist care as your needs change. Palliative care can be provided in different places including in your home, in hospital, at a care home or a hospice, such as the hospices we offer.

Providing general palliative care is part of many health and social care professionals’ jobs. You might see these people regularly as part of your clinical treatment:

• your GP
• community nurses
• social workers
• care workers
• spiritual care professionals

These professionals should be able to assess your care needs, and those of your family and friends. They should meet those needs where possible and know when to seek specialist advice. The aim of general palliative care is to provide:

• information for you and your family or friends, and signposting to other services
• accurate and all-round assessment of your needs
• coordination of carer teams in and out of hours
• basic levels of symptom and pain control
• psychological, social, spiritual and practical support
• good communication with you, your family or friends and the professionals supporting you

Specialist palliative care services manage more complex patient care problems that cannot be dealt with by generalist services. Specialists usually work in teams to offer joined-up care and you might see one or more specialists when you’re referred. Specialist teams include:

• doctors and nurses
• counsellors
• specialist allied health professionals, such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dieticians and social workers

Specialist palliative care services may be provided by the NHS, local councils and voluntary organisations. These could include inpatient and outpatient facilities and bereavement support services for relatives of patients.