St John’s Hospice puts measures in place to protect patients and staff during Coronavirus pandemic

This is our current status at the time of writing, 27th March 2020. We ask you to bear with us as guidance may change as the situation evolves.

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The Hospice Management Team is meeting each morning to look at the impact of COVID-19 on the Hospice to be able to keep patients safe and support staff, as well as adapting to respond to new guidance and evidence as this emerges.

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We have put in place a number of measures to limit the risk and spread of COVID-19 to patients, staff, carers, volunteers, and visitors in order to provide safe, quality and compassionate care throughout the pandemic to all of our patients, many of whom are extremely vulnerable.

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Our Inpatient Unit remains active, as well as our Hospice@Home carers, Community Specialist Nursing team, and Lymphoedema services.

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For the Hospice Day Care Unit, we took the precautionary decision to close as of Wednesday 11th March to reduce the risk to this particularly vulnerable group coming into the Hospice and Hospital. Throughout this time we will be keeping in touch with all Day Care Unit patients on their Day Care Unit attendance days to reduce the sense of isolation and ensure they are supported with their illness and any symptoms they may be experiencing.

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For the Hospice services we have taken a number of measures that include:

• Telephoning ahead to all patients prior to any visits from our Community Specialist Nurses
• Telephoning all carers of Hospice@Home patients on a daily basis to check for any new symptoms
• Ensuring all our staff have the right personal protective equipment to nurse patients as part of the Hospice@Home service or for patients in the Inpatient Unit whenever this is required
• We are working closely with referrers in the local Hospitals and the community to review all patients prior to admission
• We are no longer accepting patient visitors, although some exceptions may be made where patients are receiving end of life care. We recognise that this is a potentially distressing time for patients and their families, and so we encourage visitors to use other methods of keeping in touch with their friends and family members, including phone and video calls.
• All volunteers that work in the Hospice have been asked not to attend

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At the time of writing our Charity Shops are closed.

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Washing your hands is the most effective means to help prevent the spread of the virus and so we ask that if you are visiting the Hospice you follow Public Health England’s instructions on this.

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Please wash your hands regularly including before leaving your house, when entering the Hospice, after using the toilet, before eating any food, and before leaving the Hospice. If you experience any cold or flu-like symptoms including a cough, a fever, or shortness of breath please do not visit the Hospice, and follow NHS England instructions to self-isolate. If symptoms become worse should you visit NHS 111 online as the first point of contact. If you are unable to do this please visit NHS 111 online, or if you are very unwell call 999.

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Thank you to everyone for their hard work, commitment and understanding of the temporary measures we are taking to mitigate the impact to all.