Palliative Care

What is Palliative Care?

Palliative care offers comfort and support for people living with severe illnesses or those coming to the end of their life. The aim is to make the individual as comfortable as possible whilst preserving dignity and managing any potentially uncomfortable symptoms. Palliative care sometimes referred to as ‘supportive care’, works in partnership with medical and other treatments to help improve the quality of life for those suffering from an illness that may or may not be life-threatening.

Palliative care is usually carried out by medical professionals, nurses and occupational therapists. It involves managing physical symptoms and providing emotional support for individuals, their family and friends. Palliative care takes a holistic approach in caring for the individual and can be offered in a number of settings including care homes, hospitals, hospices, or in the home.

When does palliative care begin?

Palliative care is not limited to end-of-life care, the main difference being that it can be used at any point along the treatment process. This means that the time spent in palliative care differs from person to person with some receiving many years of care during prolonged illness, with others may also request this type of care only in the months, weeks or hours before they pass away.

The NHS suggests palliative care can be offered to individuals who:

• Have an advanced incurable disease such as dementia, cancer, or motor neurone disease.
• Are elderly or frail.
• Are at risk of a sudden crisis in their condition.
• Have an acute condition caused by a singular event such as a stroke or an accident.

Of course, it is down to the individual to decide what type of care is right for them, since the priority is to increase independence and control over their treatment.

Westgate’s palliative care service

Westgate Healthcare provides relaxing and comfortable care homes, offering the highest quality & compassionate palliative care for our residents.

All of our care and nursing homes offer palliative care and place respect and kindness at the centre of this care. Our wonderful and attentive staff are fully qualified and we strive to build a truly happy community based on friendly and trusting relationships. We listen carefully to each of our resident’s wishes and preferences to help meet individual needs as closely as possible, 24 hours a day.

Our personalised care plans, created for each one of our residents, are routinely reassessed in case of changes in preferences and health conditions. Meals are thoughtfully prepared for each resident as part of this plan to ensure that they receive delicious, nutritious home-cooked food made to their nutritional needs and personal tastes. We also coordinate with third-party teams such as medical practitioners to ensure that both health and wellbeing requirements are met.

If you or a loved one could benefit from palliative care, then we’d like to hear from you. There is no substitute for seeing one of our homes for yourself, so please get in touch.