Life

Co Down nursing charity provides end-of-life care at home

Jenny Lee reports on how the communities of Rostrevor, Warrenpoint and Burren in Co Down have come together to form a charity providing on-call nursing cover to terminally ill patients in their own homes

Palliative home care enables individuals to remain in their own homes to receive end-of-life care
Palliative home care enables individuals to remain in their own homes to receive end-of-life care Palliative home care enables individuals to remain in their own homes to receive end-of-life care

DYING patients' wishes to spend their final days at home are being fulfilled in Co Down, thanks to a new community service where nurses are providing end-of-life care to people in the Rostrevor, Warrenpoint and Burren areas.

Almost two years after the concept of a community-driven end-of-life service was proposed, the Life & Time charity now has 19 trained nurses who are providing vital support to adults in the final stages of life, whatever the cause.

The on-call nursing service supplements the stretched services offered by Marie Curie, local community nurses and the Southern Area Hospice, filling a much-needed void between the hours of 11pm and 8am and offering support to patients and peace of mind to their families.

Patients are referred to the service via their GP. The patients, their family or carers receive a call from the nurse on duty before 11pm to introduce themselves and check that all is well and should the patient need their support during the night, they call the nurse directly for advice, telephone support or a home visit.

Support can come in a number of ways, from offering advice and information, administering pre-prescribed pain medication and support with syringe-driver operation to being present with family as their loved one passes away.

Operating officially for just a few short months, the nurses have provided on-call cover for more than 55 nights, supporting four patients and their families.

One of the charity's initial supporters – and now nursing manager – is Connie Donnelly. The Rostrevor nurse knows from personal experience the need for such a service, following the death of her husband Dermot almost two years ago at age 59, 10 years after he was diagnosed with dementia.

It meant everything to Connie, and her three children Jonathan, Evan and Abby that Dermot was with them at home until the very end of his life.

"Having him at home was the best thing ever. There were no visiting hours and the kids could just run upstairs and sit with their dad," recalls Connie, who despite being a nurse herself and having the support of her niece, also a nurse, admits she found caring for Dermot in his final three weeks extremely difficult, especially during the long and lonely nights.

Connie is delighted that Life & Time is now up and running and supporting others, helping them to die with dignity at home with their loved ones.

“Our feedback has been so positive and it’s mostly the fact they can go to bed at night and, no matter what happens, they know they have someone at the other end of phone and who can be with them within 15 minutes if required. The beauty of this community-led model is that we are waiting on nobody and thus can be so responsive. That has taken away that panic in the middle of the night, like I experienced with Dermot, when I felt so alone."

Life & Time director and retired GP Dr Henry McLaughlin, who worked in the area for 30 years, is also thrilled to get the service running. He credits the team of directors, nurses and the community support that accelerated the commencement of the service.

“It took considerable time and a huge amount of work to be granted charity status; to become recognised by the RQIA as a nursing agency to enable us to deliver this unique service; to recruit and train nurses; brief GPs and set up a referral system; and meet with other organisations delivering home support to patients at or near end of life to ensure our services integrated well," he says.

“Throughout this time, the support of our local community has never faltered. From the first night we proposed this concept, local families have been making personal donations, organising events and donating in lieu of flowers at funerals. We are humbled and truly grateful to them and our volunteer board of GPs, nurses, an accountant and solicitors, among others, for getting Life & Time to this point.

"The critical element of the Life & Time service is the 10-to-15-minute response time which they can provide as the nursing staff are all recruited in the local catchment area."

Dr McLaughlin anticipates that in time the charity will be in a position to create a handbook for best practice in community-based palliative care that they could share with other communities who wish to establish similar initiatives.

:: For further information visit Lifeandtimecare.org