The Out of Hours service was set up in November 2004 through a partnership between Butterwick Hospice Care, Macmillan Cancer Relief and North Tees Primary Care Trust (PCT).
In 2007 North Tees PCT funded an evaluation of the service and we would like to thank them and the patients and carers who took the time to talk to the evaluation team.
The evaluation concluded that within the current service provision "It was abundantly clear that both patients and carers thought very highly of the service".
Other health care professionals were also interviewed about the value of the Out of Hours service. The Macmillan team thought that the service fitted well with the Gold Standard Framework. The District Nursing team thought that the service was "Great, high quality, excellent service". The study also concluded that during the period studied the Out of Hours team prevented 80 hospital admissions as they were able to deal with the needs of the patient at home.
Patients can be referred to the Out of Hours service by any of the professionals who are caring for them but we must have the support of the relevant District Nurse and GP before the service can commence.
The Out of Hours team consists of a number of specially trained qualified nurses and health care assistants who will visit patients on a planned or an unplanned basis. The staff are trained to provide a high quality of nursing care and support to patients and their family/carers. The team works in close partnership with the patient's District Nurse and GP.
For more information about the Out of Hours service please contact us at the Hospice on 01642 607742.
