We’re one of four hospices that have joined forces in a pioneering collaboration that is transforming the way specialist palliative and end of life care is delivered across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, demonstrating innovation and the value that hospices can bring to overstretched health systems.
Compton Care, Dougie Mac, Katharine House Hospice and St Giles Hospice have come together to create a more connected, responsive and sustainable model of specialist palliative care across the region.
Backed by investment from NHS Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board (ICB), the initiative will expand hospice services across the county, enabling more people to access expert care closer to home, remain in their preferred place of care and avoid unnecessary hospital admissions.
Not only good for patients and families, this initiative also provides an alternative to hospital admission and relieves significant pressure on hospital beds.
Believed to be one of the first collaborations of its kind in England, the four hospices will deliver the Rapid Response and Hospice Virtual Ward, combining their expertise, resources and experience to provide equitable access to complex palliative and end of life care, regardless of where someone lives within the county.
At a time when demand for palliative and end of life care continues to rise, the hospices are demonstrating how organisations can work differently, combining their strengths to deliver more coordinated, accessible and responsive support for patients and families.
Rapid response
Building on the success of the hospices’ 24-hour Specialist Advice and Referral Line, which provides access to expert advice and support across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, the initiative marks the next step in their shared ambition to improve care and outcomes for local people.
The investment will support the expansion of specialist rapid response and palliative crisis intervention services, ensuring expert hospice care is more readily available when a patient’s condition changes, or urgent support is needed.
The services will also support people to leave hospital sooner, where appropriate, with specialist hospice teams helping patients return home or move to another appropriate care setting.
By providing faster symptom management, proactive care planning and expert support when needs change, the service will help more people approaching the end of life to receive holistic care in their preferred place, improving experiences for both patients and their families.
Collaborative ambition
The service reflects the collaborative’s ambition to provide more proactive, coordinated support for people with complex palliative and end of life care needs.
David Fletcher, CEO of our charity and co-chair of the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Clinical Improvement Group, said: “This is about much more than launching another service.
“It demonstrates the role that hospices can play as specialist clinical partners within the wider health and care system, combining our expertise, agility and deep connections with local communities to help solve some of the pressures facing patients and services.”
For patients and families, that means faster access to specialist palliative care when someone’s condition changes, with expert support to help them remain at home or in the place that is right for them wherever that is clinically appropriate.David Fletcher
For our NHS and care partners, it provides another specialist option when a hospital admission may not be the best answer and can help people return home sooner when they no longer need to be in hospital.
David continued:
“At Katharine House Hospice, we want to be part of the solution to the challenges facing local health and care services. By working with our neighbouring hospices, the NHS and wider partners, we can reach more people, intervene earlier and make hospice expertise a more integral part of the wider health and care system.
“We welcome the ICB’s investment in this new service and see it as a significant vote of confidence in what hospices can contribute. It is important, however, to distinguish this investment from the funding of our wider hospice services. Those essential services remain heavily dependent on the generosity of our local community, and sustainable funding for specialist palliative and end of life care remains an important challenge nationally.”
A stronger voice for hospice care
The expansion of palliative rapid response and Virtual Ward services across the region will help more people receive timely care at home, manage symptoms effectively and avoid unnecessary hospital admissions.
Specialist hospice teams will work closely with NHS partners to provide coordinated support when needs change, helping more people remain in their preferred place of care and ensuring families have access to expert guidance when they need it most.
The programme is expected to support hundreds of people each year, helping more patients be cared for in their preferred place, reducing avoidable hospital admissions and freeing up valuable NHS capacity.
By working together, the four hospices are creating a stronger voice for hospice care, developing new ways of working and demonstrating the value of collaboration between the voluntary sector and the NHS. Most importantly, people across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent will benefit from more responsive, joined up and personalised support.