Palliative care

Palliative Care is about achieving the best possible quality of life for people with non-curable illness and supporting those who care for them.

Location: Ealing, Northwick Park and St Mark's Hospitals

Palliative Care is about achieving the best possible quality of life for people with non-curable illness and supporting those who care for them. It involves managing symptoms and offering support with social, emotional, psychological and spiritual needs.

If you are referred to our hospital specialist palliative care team, one of our team will visit you on the ward and introduce themselves to you. They usually then become your key worker.

Your key worker and our team will work alongside the ward nurses, your hospital doctor, physiotherapists, occupational therapist, social workers and anyone else who is involved in your care. We do not take over your direct care.

We advise colleagues on how to ensure that you receive the best care available. Your consultant will continue to have overall responsibility for your care.

Our service is designed to help with:

• controlling any symptoms you are experiencing, if they occur. Managing physical, emotional and psychological problems and other symptoms that may accompany your illness or the side effects of treatment
• supporting you and your family and carers with any worries or concerns that you may have about the future or your illness and the effects and impact this may have on you
• assisting you with planning for your discharge from hospital. We will liaise with community support teams to ensure a smooth discharge and assist you in planning for the future to help ensure your wishes are met
• providing you with information regarding your illness, treatments, financial help and on-going support
• helping you plan and anticipate what care you will need in the future, including end of life care.

Get in touch with our palliative care team:

• at Ealing Hospital: 020 8967 5270 or 020 8967 5260
• at Northwick Park and St Mark's Hospitals: 020 8869 3681