Community and Outpatients Services 

Whether patients use our Community Services or the Outpatients service they will be supported by an expert clinical team who work with both the patient and their families to ensure that in whatever time the patient has left their quality of life is maintained.  

Community services at the Martlets are provided via our Day Hospice, the Day Hospice is for adults from the local area who are suffering from a life limiting disease.

At the Day Hospice patients have access to symptom control, specialist nurses and consultants, art therapy, music therapy and aromatherapy massage. As well as counsellors, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and of course, peer support. Essentially the Day Hospice provides whichever end of life services patients may need under one roof.  

The Day Hospice is often described as a healing, creative space, research has shown that creativity, whether through art or music can play an important part in the healing process. Patients may discover a flair for creativity that they never knew existed, couple this with a team of expert clinical staff who have time to work with each patient individually and it’s easy to see how vital the Day Hospice is.   

When patients first attend the Day Hospice they work with staff to identify what they want to achieve in terms of quality of life. Patients attend the Day Hospice once a week, for three months initially; at this point they will have a reassessment to determine whether the Day Hospice is still the best place for them to be. The Day Hospice is open Monday – Thursday, supporting up to 15 patients each day.

Outpatients Services are provided by Martlets @ Home, who are a team of specialised nurses caring for patients who want to die at home. It means that patients have access to expert palliative care at home, surrounded by their loved ones. In the same way as the other hospice services Martlets @ Home also supports the family, who will be actively involved in decision making and bereavement support is on hand if needed.  This service is for people who are at the very end of their lives and may only need the Martlets help and support for three to four weeks.   

Increasing numbers of patients are being referred to the Martlets with non-malignant illnesses which may mean that they can die comfortably at home. Of the 220 patients Martlets @ home saw in 2007/2008, half died at home. Patients and their families who use the Martlets @ Home service are given the confidence to decide where they want to be cared for at the end of their life.  

If you are looking for a care agency, the Martlets now offer the agency Martlets Care ( insert link here ) however please note that Martlets Care is a private nursing and social care agency whose profits go to the Martlets Hospice.

Accessing Services

Access to either the Day Hospice or the Martlets @ Home service is via referral from the patients GP, District Nurse, the Macmillan Team or other specialist services. These services are provided free of charge to patients, as are all hospice services, however the Hospice is not part of the NHS and so must raise over £3.3 million a year from charitable activities to ensure the continuation of its services.  

As Hospice services are integrated, if a patient’s care needs change they can be referred on to the Hospice Inpatient unit or to Martlets@ Home or to the main Hospice. The most important thing is that patients are accessing the right service for their needs at this time.

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