About our palliative care service
The palliative care team offers support to inpatients and outpatients at North Middlesex University Hospital. Inside the hospital we work with medical and surgical teams. We have strong links to all community services in the area, in particular the local boroughs of Haringey and Enfield.
We provide specialist palliative and end of life care to anyone who has an advanced, progressing and life-limiting illness (this includes patients with both cancer and non-cancer diagnoses). We offer specialist advice for managing pain and other symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and fatigue, and provide social, spiritual and emotional support. We can support with Advance Care Planning discussions. We also offer support to families and carers. Referrals can be made at any stage of a patient’s illness.
Our team consists of clinical nurse specialists, a fast track coordinator and consultants in palliative medicine. We are supported by the hospital’s mental health liaison team and cancer psychologists. We work closely with a range of healthcare professionals including physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dietitians and hospital chaplains, as well as GPs, district nurses, social workers and hospices. This enable us to help patients and their families or carers to plan for a timely and successful transfer to their preferred place of care.
We are committed to support the hospital teams caring for our patients, and the people important to them, with compassion and in a manner which is respectful of their expressed wishes. This is in line with national guidance, “One Chance to Get it Right” published by the Leadership Alliance for the Care of Dying People in June 2014.