All You Need to Know About Community Services
12 Nov 2021Introduction
What do we mean when we talk about Community Services? In a Hospice setting we are talking about care provided away from the Hospice building. Community services generally talk about services provided in the home of an end-of-life patient.
At Mary Ann our Community Services are our Hospice at Home service and our Rapid Response service. They serve very different purposes and we will discuss this further.
What is Hospice at Home?
Hospice at Home is our in-home care service. We draw up an end of life care plan and support you and your family through it.
Why choose to utilise Hospice at Home? A lot of people would much prefer their end of life care in their home so that they can be somewhere familiar and comfortable. It also has the advantage of allowing loved ones to visit at any point in the day.
What is Rapid Response?
Our Rapid Response service is a collaborative 24 hour a day emergency care service. It covers all of Warwickshire and we run it alongside the South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust.
It is an emergency service and end-of-life patients can call the number for emergency support.
How do these services benefit the community?
Community care services are vital in reducing pressure on the NHS. They are also a key part of the NHS Long Term Plan.
Find out more about community care services on the NHS website.
We, the hospice community, have seen an increase of 40% of end-of-life patients wanting to die at home in the last 12 months. This is a huge increase and shows how vital care in the community really is.
Conclusion
Community service care plays a vital role in relieving pressure on the NHS and hospital beds. It also gives people the choice of where they would wish to die. It is a huge part of the hospice movement’s mission, to allow people to die with dignity.
