Nightingale House Hospice has announced the launch of a direct admissions service.

Due to the increasing pressure on community health colleagues, the hospice says it is conscious that requests for referrals for admission are not progressing quickly at this time.

As a result it has setup a dedicated telephone number, operational between 9am and 4pm, Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays) which will enable our staff to take phone calls from family members of individuals with palliative care needs who might require admission and undertake direct triage so that admissions can occur more quickly in these challenging times.

Referral criteria for those individuals:-

• Over the age of 18yrs old
• Living within Wrexham, Flintshire, South Denbighshire, and the border areas.
• With a palliative (life-limiting) diagnosis – this can include cancer, heart failure, neurological conditions such as motor neurone disease and known to the district nursing/general practice teams.
• Struggling with uncontrolled symptoms for example pain, sickness etc.

A hospice spokesperson said: “Due to our duty of care to our existing patients we are unable to admit individuals with symptoms of Covid 19; a high temperature and/or a new continuous cough.

“Please call us and ask to speak to a member of our triage team 01978 316800. This triage team are available between 9am and 4pm, Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays).

“Please note this is in addition to our 24/7 advice line which is still operational.

“Following receipt of your call we will endeavour to get in touch with your primary carer such as your GP or district nurse to confirm the request for admission and obtain the relevant clinical information we require to enable the admission to be progressed.

“We will keep you informed of the progress of your call and referral enquiry.”