Services

Support Services - The Medical Team

The Hospice medical team is headed up by our consultant Dr Brendan O’Neill; he is supported by other visiting consultants and a number of more junior Doctors in training who you may meet.

If you are to stay on the ward you will meet at least one of the Doctors on the day you arrive.  He or she will undertake an assessment with your Nurses of what your needs are and will openly discuss any plans for your treatment.  The Doctor will not only look at your medical condition but will also be interested in all aspects of your care such as how you have been coping at home and what else can be provided to support you and those close to you.

The Doctor will discuss as fully as you like any changes to your treatment (such as changing any medication) and any tests such as blood tests or x-rays that may be appropriate to undertaking the planning of your care.

The Doctor will also be able to liaise with all other staff that have been responsible for your care, such as your GP and hospital specialists.  The medical team are available on site for most of the working week and can be contacted out of hours by the Hospice staff if needed.

As the Hospice is staffed by highly trained Doctors and Nurses, we can offer many of the procedures that a hospital can, such as a blood transfusion.  However, we cannot offer the full range of services available in your local hospital.  In some instances it may be more appropriate to transfer you to hospital for certain types of treatment, but this would only be undertaken with your agreement and following a full discussion and explanation of the reason why.  Examples of such situations could be a surgical operation or radiotherapy.

The issue of resuscitation is worthy of specific mention here.  Unlike a hospital we do not offer advanced resuscitation which would entail electric shock treatment and ventilation.  In most instances resuscitation on the ward is not undertaken as it would be inappropriate to offer this to most patients who stay in the Hospice.  We DO NOT have a blanket policy for this.

If you or your carer have any concerns or questions about this please ask any member of the team.  If it was decided that resuscitation were appropriate the Hospice staff would commence basic life support on site and call a 999 ambulance to transfer you to the local hospital.