Services

The Salisbury Hospice service covers a wide area, reaching south as far as Ringwood, north to Upavon, east to Ludgershall and west to Mere. As well as treating patients in the hospice, our Hospice Community Care Team  supported 837 patients in their own homes in 2012-13.  They made 2,678 home visits and over 9,000 telephone consultations.

Currently we have seven Community Palliative Care Nurses.   Often our nurses are mistaken for Macmillan nurses, which is incorrect.  We receive no funding from Macmillan and all of our Community Palliative Nurses are funded by Salisbury Hospice Charity.

Palliative care recognises the special needs of people living with life-limiting disease and this care focuses on comfort and quality of life while promoting personal dignity and independence as far as possible.

The hospice has a team of 15 Bereavement Support Volunteers who receive training and undergo group supervision.  They will usually visit people at home, but they also offer telephone support from the hospice. They provide bereavement support for up to a year. This can include individual sessions, group sessions and telephone calls. The group sessions allow people in a similar situation to go on and create their own support group. The number of people who received bereavement counselling in 2012-13 was 143 and included 608 visits and 765 phone calls.

We have three social workers in our Family Support Team and they work with both the patients and their families. In 2012-13 the team supported 295 patients, made 650 visits and 1,478 phone calls.

The hospice also has a Hospital Palliative Care Team, supporting patients within the main hospital building.  Last year the team met with 457 patients and made 1,788 visits to patients in Salisbury District Hospital.  It is important to note, that we receive no funding from the hospital, and any donations made to the hospital do not come to the hospice.