Work is complete on a specialist palliative care unit in Whitehaven
The new specialist palliative care unit, the Loweswater Suite, is now ready to receive patients. The suite is located in the Copeland unit of the West Cumberland Hospital, and contains four specially developed en-suite bedrooms.
The specialist palliative care beds, provided by Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, are designed to provide care for patients requiring pain and symptom control in an environment specifically designed to be calming and relaxing. The new beds will complement the palliative care that is delivered in the community, at community hospitals and at the West Cumberland Hospital.
At an open day designed to showcase the unit Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Chair, Mike Taylor explained how delighted he was with it:
“This unit is something that I am extremely proud of and congratulations are in order for the team behind the whole project. The suite has a very warm feel about it. Patients may be feeling very low when they come in here but if they are feeling that way, it is great that this environment can make them feel a little bit better.”
Councillor Len Davis, who sits on the Health Scrutiny Panel, was also at the open event. His partner Iris passed away in 2006 from breast cancer. He describes the nurses who looked after her as ‘angels in uniform,’ and he knows first-hand how important this unit will be:
“There are not enough words to describe how wonderful these nurses are. It’s nice to know that future patients who need this kind of care will be looked after properly with these experts, in this wonderful place; to say I am delighted is an understatement.“
The care will be provided by a multidisciplinary team, including specialist palliative care nurses, doctors, ward nurses and other health care professionals with specialist skills. Seven nurses and a specialty doctor have been appointed to ensure patients receive the best possible care, 24 hours a day.
Sarah Grayson is one of the newly appointed nurses and she said:
“The suite has a totally different feel about it, even though it is within the West Cumberland Hospital it just doesn’t have a hospital feel about it at all. The design is nicely thought out and it is much more personal for the patients.”
Kirsty Hill, another newly appointed nurse, said:
“The family room in particular is something that was needed; it’s a nice space for the families to have a seat and somewhere for them to retreat to.”
Lyndsey Storey-Armstrong explained that the team will also outreach into the community and across the West Cumberland Hospital site to advise and support patients:
“It’s great that we have a base now and people know where we are, other staff, GPs and carers can get in touch if they need advice for anyone who needs this specialist care.”
The unit is something that people in West Cumbria have been asking for. Patricia Molyneux sits on the West Cumbria carer / patient cancer panel and she said:
“It’s a lovely, welcoming and bright place and it is appropriate for people who are coming in for palliative care.”
Cumbria Partnership has invested approximately £250,000 in the unit. It is an extension of the Copeland Unit which delivers care to patients who have been in an acute hospital and need further care and rehabilitation before discharge, as well as those referred directly by their GPs.