We admit more than 250 people each year onto our 14-bed Inpatient Unit.
To get a bed on our Inpatient Unit, patients need to be referred by a healthcare professional, such as a GP, district nurse, hospital consultant, or another community-based clinician.
Patients may be admitted to the Inpatient Unit for:
Referrals to the unit are made by GPs, hospital specialists, district nurses, and other community healthcare professionals. We’re unable to accept direct referrals from patients or families.
Patients are not able to self-refer to the Inpatient Unit.
All admission requests must come via a GP, hospital consultant, district nurse, or a community specialist nurse. We do not accept direct referrals from patients or families.
As you can imagine, our services are in high demand, and we strive to prioritise those with the greatest need.
We operate a proactively managed waiting list, which is reviewed daily. Decisions about admissions are made based on individual need.
The length of stay on the Inpatient Unit depends on the individual needs of each patient. Some people are admitted for end-of-life care, while others may stay for a shorter period to help manage complex symptoms.
We are unable to offer long-term care on the Inpatient Unit, and patients will be discharged when their needs can be met in another setting. Discharge planning begins as early as possible and includes discussions with the patient and those important to them.
However, this is not the end of our care. Our nursing teams continue to provide support to patients at home or in a nursing home, as and when required. Patients can also access other hospice services, such as counselling or Hospice In Your Home. In this way, our care and support continues even after patients leave the hospice.
Visiting hours are from 10am-8pm.
We warmly welcome visitors to the Inpatient Unit. To help us maintain a calm and supportive environment for all patients, we kindly ask visitors to consider the following:
Group visits: Where possible, please avoid visiting in large groups. If a group would like to visit at the same time, we ask that you speak with a member of the nursing team in advance, as this can affect the care and comfort of other patients.
Children: Children are always welcome, but must be properly supervised by a family member throughout their visit.
We ask visitors to leave by 8pm to help maintain a calm and restful environment for our patients. However, we understand that some patients may be extremely unwell and benefit from having one or two loved ones stay with them overnight. If your loved one is very poorly and you wish to stay later or overnight, please speak to a member of the nursing team.
Three of our wonderful volunteers – Vicky from Sri Lanka, and Liubov and Viktoriia from Ukraine, are volunteers at our charity superstore on Robin Retail Park. Here, they tell us how their volunteering roles have supported them to not only develop their English language skills, but to make friends in their local area too.
June lives with MND and has received assistance from both our Hospice in your Home and complementary therapy team here at the hospice for two years. Here, June shares her story with the help of her husband, Colin.
For further information, please see our FAQs.
