Inpatient Unit
We provide 24-hour specialist palliative care to patients on our Inpatient Unit 365 days a year.
Our team always go that extra mile to ensure patients are as comfortable as possible.
Patients are admitted to the Inpatient Unit for symptom control including palliative rehabilitation, respite or end of life care, and can be referred to us by a health professional or family member. The health professional may be a hospital doctor or nurse, or a member of a community team such as a district nurse, GP or Macmillan Nurse.
Our Facilities
Inpatient Unit
Accommodation within the Inpatient Unit comprises of 16 beds (twelve single ensuite rooms along with two two-bedded rooms) which also have ensuite facilities. Privacy and dignity in the two-bedded rooms are maintained by a permanent partition wall and curtains when required.
All rooms have electric profiling beds and pressure relieving mattresses. There is a nurse call system in place in each room and all beds have access to a television and radio/CD player.
Within the unit there is a rehabilitation kitchen with facilities for families and visitors to make drinks.
All our services are on one level so that patients can enjoy step free access to all areas of the hospice and also the gardens when the weather permits.
Butterfly Wing
Six of the beds are located in our Butterfly Wing which opened in 2022 and are nurse and therapy-led care from our Advanced Clinical Practitioners (ACPs).
Our ACP/nurse-led care allows to us to offer quality care to a new cohort of patients from an acute setting, or at home. The ACPs are fully autonomous in admitting the patient, making their care plan with them and prescribing their drugs, without the need of the medical team.
All of our rooms can accommodate mobility aids and scooters.
Our Inpatient Unit
Many of our patient’s symptoms improve and they are discharged from the unit, whilst others stay with us until the end of their life. Our unit is not a long stay facility and if ongoing care is required, we will work with community health and social care providers to plan appropriate packages of care. We also work closely with residential and nursing homes to plan and co-ordinate a transfer of care.
Visiting our Inpatient Unit
Our visiting hours are 2pm – 8pm daily.
For patients nearing their end of life, open visiting can be offered at the discretion of the nurse in charge
Concerns of visitors with symptoms of illness should be discussed with a nurse in charge to discuss whether it is appropriate to visit, or if precautions need to be taken. We will try our best to accommodate visiting outside of visiting times.
Call bells must be used in the room if assistance is required from staff during visiting.
Visiting pets will be at the discretion of the nurse in charge and can be discussed on or prior to a visit.
Our Holistic Care
Our objective is to enhance the quality of life for every individual, enabling each person to be supported throughout all stages of their illness. A patient’s needs are continually assessed by the hospice team to ensure quality individual holistic care is provided.
We work closely with our Wellbeing Centre to provide access to physiotherapy, occupational therapy, complementary therapy, lymphoedema, fatigue and breathlessness services and psychological support.
Good palliative care involves the patient’s family and other carers, and they can be closely involved in the delivery of care within the hospice if they wish. We are happy to support this and offer assistance as necessary. We also provide support for carers, family members and close friends, both during a person’s illness and during bereavement.
Pastoral Care
Spiritual care plays an important role in our holistic approach to palliative care at Lindsey Lodge.
We care for a diverse and multi-cultural community and recognise the need to ensure we aim to support the spiritual needs of our patients, families, carers, staff and volunteers.
We understand that spiritual care means different things to different people and believe we all need to have a sense of peace and security when faced with the emotional difficulties of serious illness, loss, bereavement and death.
For some people spirituality might involve religion, but it’s not the same as religious beliefs. Spiritual issues can affect everyone – people do not need to be religious to have spiritual needs.
The team includes a spiritual care lead and hospice chaplains. We have a family support team with registered counsellors and a volunteer social worker. The team are supported by a wide variety of faith and belief group leaders who will visit patients in Lindsey Lodge.
Lindsey Lodge Spiritual Care Lead Paul Braisdell said: “Our support is available to anyone, regardless of their faith, culture or background.
“Spiritual care can often become more of a focus at times of emotional stress, physical (and mental) illness, loss, bereavement and death.
“Coming under the care of the hospice can raise all sorts of worries and concerns, and these may be as distressing as the physical symptoms of illness. Such concerns are often expressed as questions about the illness, hopes and fears, the meaning and purpose of life, and what the future holds for family and loved ones.
“Our role is to ‘be there’, to listen compassionately and provide person-centred, spiritual, religious, cultural and emotional support to all patients, families, staff and volunteers, by helping them to express and explore their thoughts and feelings about the past, present and future as they arise, in order to make sense of things.”
Lindsey Lodge also offers the use of a Reflection Room, which is based in our Wellbeing Centre. The room offers a safe, quiet multi-faith space for contemplation, reflection and prayer.
We are able to access our of hours support or plan this with families and their faith/religion contact person who often can be contacted to support prayer or holy communion.
Catering
Our catering team provides a high quality service for our patients support choice.
The menus offer a variety of well-cooked and appetising foods. A member of the catering staff speaks with the patient daily about meal choices and will endeavour to meet any dietary needs and specific likes and dislikes. Our food is locally sourced, is prepared and cooked on site.
Our catering department has consistently been awarded a 5 star food hygiene certificate.
Mealtimes for patients can be flexible but usually served at the following times:
Breakfast: 7:30am onwards
Lunch: 12pm to 1pm
Tea: 5pm to 6pm
Supper is available upon request
Family and friends can bring in specific food and drinks and these should be offered to staff in order that they are labelled and stored safely.
Family can eat with patients with patient rooms or use our onsite dining facilities.