End of life care is about caring for people who have an advanced, progressive and incurable illness so they can live as well as possible until they die. It is about providing support that meets the needs of both the person who is dying and the people close to them.

End of life care includes "palliative care". If you have an incurable illness, palliative care will make you as comfortable as possible by controlling pain and other distressing symptoms, while providing psychological, social and spiritual support for you and your family or carers. This is called a holistic approach, as it deals with the "whole" person rather than just one aspect of care. You may receive palliative care early in the course of your illness, together with other therapies to treat your condition, such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy, before you are considered to be nearing the end of your life. 

We work closely with the specialist palliative care team based at Rowcroft Hospice to ensure we provide you with the best care and support possible.

Advanced Care Planning (ACP)

This can help you and those close to you prepare for the future. It gives you an opportunity to think about and write down preferences and priorities for future care, including how you want to receive care towards the end of life. Anything can be included. If it is important to you, you can download the ACP booklet by clicking here.

Ensuring everyone around you understands and knows your care preferences helps to make your experience of care and theirs better.

You might also want to find out a bit more about the two lasting powers of attorney that you can use to legally give people the power to make health and social care and property and finance related decisions on your behalf if you become unable to make these decisions yourself.