The palliative care team aims to provide support and management of physical symptoms such as pain, and also provide psychological, social and spiritual care to patients and their families.

The team deliver specialist care for palliative and end of life care at home, complex care at home e.g. chemotherapy management of Hickman/PICC lines and support to those who are housebound within their own home including residential homes.

The team delivers nursing care to housebound patient's including wound care, assessment, palliative care, medication, pressure ulcer management.

The team provides clinical service for palliative care patients in their own home.

Hub hours for referrals are Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 4.30pm.

The Children's Community Nursing Team (CCN Team) provides clinical nursing care for children and young people with complex and ongoing clinical health needs in the community including palliative care. The team cares for children and young people between the ages of 0 – 18 years who would need to return to hospital or their GP for their health care needs.

The Hospice Rapid Access Service team is a 24 hour services for people with a primary health need, who are rapidly deteriorating, and likely to be entering the terminal/palliative care phase of their illness. 

Havens Hospices, St Lukes Hospice and Farleigh Hospice work together as a collaborative to ensure consistency of care across all of Mid and South Essex.

The Hospices will assess the care needs of the patient and source care that meets the holistic needs of the patient.  This could be care in the home, on an in-patient unit, or in a Nursing Home.

Havens Hospices – havenshospices.rapidaccess@nhs.net (Southend, Castle Point and Rochford)

Farleigh Hospice -  contactteam.fh@nhs.net (Chelmsford, Maldon and the Dengie, Braintree and the surrounding areas)

St Luke’s Hospice - Stlukes.oneresponse@nhs.net (Basildon and Thurrock)

The Children’s Community Nursing Team consists of nurses who have specialist training and experience in the care of sick children. We provide a vital link with other professionals to provide holistic care including palliative care to children and their families. We aid in preventing hospital admission and supporting early discharge by teaching and supporting families to manage their child’s condition in their own home.

St Luke's Hospice Clinical Outpatients team offers convenient, accessible and specialist key clinical procedures and palliative care, in a relaxed environment with appointments to meet your wellbeing and lifestyle needs. 

Key clinical procedures offered to outpatients:

• Advance Care Planning clinics
• Ascetic and Pleural drainage
• Blood product transfusions
• Clinical Nurse Specialist symptom management clinic
• CVC line care
• Intravenous fluids
• IV Bisphosphonates infusions
• IV Iron Infusions
• Long term condition clinic – supporting heart failure, renal and liver conditions
• Venepuncture

The service opening hours are 9.00am to 5.00pm.

The Children's Community Nursing Service team provides nursing care for children and young people with a health need including palliative care in their own home or the community and includes training and support for families and carers. The primary aim is to prevent hospital admission, attendance and length of hospital stay through supporting a family to care for their child at home or within their local community.

This service covers Mid Essex excluding Halstead.

The advice line provides access to a member of the hospice team who is able to give advice on symptoms, nursing care and other needs relating to life-limiting/palliative care needs and available between 8.00am and 8.00pm, 7 days a week.

Please call the advice line when:

• advice is needed regarding hospice care and support
• advice or information is needed regarding the management of symptoms
• concerns about symptoms that need to be addressed before your next scheduled visit/appointment
• reassurance is required for someone who is anxious about a change in their condition