We are delighted to announce that we have appointed the very first Admiral Nurse for North Northumberland.
HospiceCare was established in 1995 and is the main provider of palliative care in North Northumberland. The map above shows the geographicall area our nursing teams are able to deliver their care and support.
We deliver our care and support to adults, their families and carers, who have a life limiting illness such as Cancer, Respiratory Failure, Heart Failure, Lung Disease, Motor Neurone Disease, Parkinson's Disease and Advanced Dementia.
HospiceCare North Northumberland are delighted to announce that due to exciting developments in partnership with Dementia UK – the national charity providing specialist dementia support - they are now in the process of recruiting an Admiral Nurse to provide end of life/ specialist palliative care to the people of North Northumberland living with a diagnosis of Dementia.
Admiral Nurses are specialist dementia nurses who work with and support families and carers of people with dementia. Working collaboratively with other professionals, Admiral Nurses seek to improve the quality of life for people with dementia and their carers. They use a range of interventions to help people live positively with the condition and develop skills to improve communication and maintain relationships.
Sue Gilbertson, HospiceCare Clinical Manager said “The Admiral Nurse will be appointed initially for a two year period. During that time the Admiral Nurse will be working in partnership with Dementia UK through Practice Development, Clinical Supervision, and Continuing Professional Development, to maintain excellent standards and specialist skills in dementia care, as well as being an integral member of our Hospice team providing palliative and end of life care.
This Admiral Nurse’s role will involve continuing the further development of the Hospice’s Dementia and End of Life Programme, a project which is currently being delivered into Care Homes across North Northumberland. We are absolutely delighted that we are now able to have an Admiral Nurse as part of our clinical team – the very first in North Northumberland.”
Julie Allen, Business Development Officer for the North East at Dementia UK, said, “We are delighted to be working in partnership with HospiceCare North Northumberland.
With Dementia UK’s rolling programme of professional and practice development, the newly appointed Admiral Nurse will be supported in enhancing end-of-life care to families affected by dementia”.
If you would like information on any of the services offered by HospiceCare please call the Hospice on telephone: 01665 606515 or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Website: www.hospicecare-nn.org.uk
For extra support, contact the Admiral Nurse Dementia Helpline on 0800 888 6678 between 9am-9pm Monday-Friday and 9am-5pm at the weekend, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
HospiceCare has a dedicated team of Nurses and Nursing Assistants who have the necessary skills and knowledge to care and support patients, carers and families in their own home, working in partnership with other health and social care providers. The timing of care and support delivered is tailored around the needs of the patient and family or carer.
By 2021 the number of people living with dementia will rise to over a million and they are more likely to die in a Care Home (Help the Hospices 2013). This is supported by the Alzheimer’s Society report (2103) suggesting that 80% of people living in Care Homes have dementia.
Dementia is a terminal illness as there is no cure and people with dementia and their families face the challenge of living with this progressive illness for many years.
So, armoured with this information and some understanding of the challenges faced by carers and families when caring for someone with dementia at the end of their life is what led HospiceCare in developing a project about dementia and end of life care to care staff in Care Homes across North Northumberland. The aim being, to not only support and raise awareness of the Care Home staff, but to help make a difference in the quality of care delivery and support to people with dementia and their families at the end of their life.
In 2016 the project was successfully funded by two charitable Trusts, Henfrey Charitable Trust and the Garfield
Weston Foundation and their generosity of funding meant that the project was extended from eighteen months to two years. Once funding was in place the Hospice employed two Mental Health nurses into the Hospice team for two days a week so that the knowledge and experience of dementia and end of life care could be fused together.
There are 20 Care Homes across North Northumberland who will all be approached over the next two years to engage with the Hospice, with an opportunity to develop partnership working as well as participate in the project. Earlier this year 5 Care Homes were contacted and currently 4 Care Homes across Alnwick, Amble and Berwick are participating in the project’s seven session programme which addresses topics such as dementia, end of life, communication, comfort care, families, last days of life and bereavement.
We are currently 4 months into delivering the programme and the care homes are welcoming and showing a commitment to the programme by most of their care staff attending each of the sessions which are well received with feedback varying from good to excellent. So whilst the project is still in its infancy its reception from Care Homes and the relationships which are developing with the
Once the programme has finished, relationships with the Care Home will continue with the Hospice as each Care Home will have identified one or two Hospice Link Carers to continue developing relationships with on-going access to support and information when caring for someone with dementia and their family at end of life.
"We all appreciate here that Dementia is not a ‘one size fits all’ condition. It is about constantly having to adapt your care, every day is different. We have all benefited by having HospiceCare in to talk about death and dying. It has enabled us to have a different approach with our families and to have a more open conversation about end of life care.
All our staff, including our domestic staff, carers, managers and team leaders, have found it a positive and rewarding experience having this additional training. It is also very comforting to know that HospiceCare will still be supporting us around dementia and end of life care now and in the future. We will all miss Sue and Betty coming into the home.
We have always been really good at providing end of life care, but the training has reassured us that we are doing the right things. I do hope that the other care homes in North Northumberland take up this wonderful opportunity from HospiceCare.” Alison Moore Care Home Manager, Heatherdale Care Home.
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Various complementary therapies, including massage, hypnotherapy, reflexology, acupuncture, reiki, Indian head massage and aromatherapy are available to our patients and their carers. You can either have your complementary therapy at the hospice Drop-in Clinics, or at home during the week. All the therapies are free of charge and you don't need a GP referral.
Please call our Nursing Team on: 01665 606515 if you would like to have one of these treatments, so that an appointment can be made for you.
"The icing on the cake at the Hospice was the therapies on offer, from foot massages and yoga to nail painting. From the first visit it was my husband Dave who was prompting me each week to make sure I had the morning off work to go with him- his weekly trips became a highlight and something which he looked forward to immensely. For me they were equally welcoming.” Connie
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HospiceCare holds weekly Drop-ins at Alnwick and Berwick, no appointments are necessary, simply just turn up.
The Hospice buildings are like a home-from-home where people gather for their chats and coffee, we have comfy seats and pleasing décor. The kettle is always on; there is an abundance of cake and biscuits and an entertaining wealth of conversation!