In Patient Unit (IPU)

The hospice In-Patient Unit is staffed by a team of Doctors led by a Consultant in Palliative Medicine and 66 Nurses. The staff are part of a multi disciplinary team which includes Social Workers, Chaplains, Therapists, Psychologists and other Support Workers.

The unit has been considerably developed and modernised since the original opening in 1973 and currently consists of 28 registered fully staffed beds which operate on a 24/7 365 days a year basis. Of these, there are 16 single en-suite rooms in addition to a variety of multi occupancy rooms and family rooms. All rooms have a view of the well kept hospice gardens.

Patients are admitted principally for symptom control or terminal care and the average length of stay is around 12 days. Last year the number of patient stays was around 650 and of these, about half resulted in the patient returning home. A limited respite service is operated for patients who are not able to access such a service in other ways or require very specialist care.

Admission to the In-Patient Unit for all patients is through an assessment by the Palliative Care Nursing Support team or a Specialist Palliative Care Nurse in the NHS acute trust. The NHS Primary Care team are kept up to date with all admissions.