This week’s blog comes from Charlotte Goulding, Palliative and End of Life Care Programme Manager for the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership

Bradford District and Craven hospice provision

Hello everyone, my name is Charlotte.

This week we are visiting Bradford District and Craven to learn more about diverse support provided by Sue Ryder Manorlands and Marie Curie hospices.

Hospice care is a specialised service that provides treatment and support to patients with life-limiting illnesses, combining specialist medical care for managing pain and other symptoms with emotional, practical, and spiritual support. As well as providing expert care for patients, hospices support their families and loved ones too.

Sue Ryder Manorlands Hospice Breathe Better programme

The Breathe Better programme was initially aimed at patients with end-stage respiratory disease who were no longer well enough to participate in the pulmonary rehab programme but could still benefit from self-management guidance and support. However, following service user feedback, the programme’s scope was extended to included patients at the diagnosis stage.

The programme is run over a six week period, with weekly two hour sessions which can be accessed face-to face, or virtually, online. Sessions are delivered by physiotherapists, occupational therapists, nursing staff and guest speakers. Patients are encouraged to bring along a relative, carer or friend to the session to help support their journey, and session topics can include education relating to specific illnesses, exercise and relaxation techniques. During the sessions patients can learn more about techniques to manage breathlessness as well as: exercise, fatigue, anxiety, oxygen, medications/inhalers, and complementary therapies. There is also a weekly exercise session led by the physiotherapy team.

There’s been great feedback from the first programme – here are a couple of comments from our patients:

“I have anxiety, so this has helped.”

“[the sessions have] provided support for my husband.”

Sue Ryder Manorlands Hospice’s Virtual Wards

Sue Ryder’s specialist palliative care virtual ward provides multidisciplinary support at home, for patients who are in crisis or who may be entering an acutely unstable phase. Through direct, timely access, Sue Ryder can provide symptom management and crisis interventions to even the most complex end-of-life patients, offering an enhanced service in the community.

Support and advice is offered to patients and their family and friends. This is provided by palliative care consultants, Sue Ryder clinical nurse specialists, therapy teams, family support teams, and physiotherapy, complementary therapy and occupational therapists.

Working in partnership with GPs and other local community healthcare providers, Sue Ryder’s virtual wards aim to reduce the pressure on these providers who are often called out to support crisis care. The focus is on providing short periods of intensive specialist support through daily multidisciplinary team (MDT) and patient reviews, to stabilise the patient. Once stable, patients will be supported through their usual community team.

Marie Curie

Marie Curie Bradford Hospice is continually striving to be as inclusive as possible. The charity recognises that Bradford is very much a multi-cultural city, with people from various faiths and backgrounds. Rather than trying to be all things to all people, staff try to listen to patients and their families and treat them as individuals to make them feel as comfortable as possible.

Aqeefah Sehsheen, Spiritual Care Lead at the hospice, said,

“Of course we want to be as inclusive as possible but when it comes to spirituality, it can mean a lot of different things to people."

“We do provide places for prayer: we have a private prayer room and a multi-faith chapel, and are supported by a team of volunteer chaplains (although we always need more!). But rather than focusing on different religions, it’s more valuable to listen to each individual and find out what’s important to them as a person, and then try to accommodate them and make them and their surroundings as comfortable as possible.”

Faith is just one aspect of the hospice’s approach to inclusivity. A Muslim women’s support group currently utilises our facilities and another will be starting in the very near future, supported by our patient and family support team. The day therapy unit recently launched ‘men’s shed’, with the aim of encouraging men of all ages and backgrounds to access therapeutic interventions.

A carer’s survival group takes place each week, where carers from all walks of life can attend in the morning. If they so wish, they can also take some time out for themselves in the afternoon, whilst their loved ones are being supported by our nursing team.

A new Pride rainbow walkway is now at the entrance to the hospice and ‘all-gender’ bathroom facilities are a strong visual indicator of the hospice’s LGBTQ+ friendly policies.

This is just a snapshot of the important work and expertise in Sue Ryder Manorlands and Marie Curie. We hope you’ll join us as we visit other hospices across the region learning about other person centred and inclusive support for people within the hospices and across local communities in West Yorkshire.

Thank you for reading and have a good weekend,
Charlotte