What are your visiting hours? Expand In order to protect our most vulnerable patients, Ayrshire Hospice has taken the decision to restrict visitors to the in-patient unit during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Patient care is our top priority. Please only visit the hospice if absolutely necessary. If you would like assistance with Skype calls etc please contact the nursing team looking after the patient. Visiting in the In Patient Unit will be restricted to four named visitors for the duration of a patients' stay and a maximum of two visitors at one time. These nominated visitors cannot be changed throughout the patients stay. Visitors will be asked to use PPE and advice on how to do this will be available from the nursing team. Children under 16 years are not permitted to visit at this time. Please arrive and leave promptly at visiting times. Visitors can attend as many times during the day (10am - 8pm) as they feel necessary. However, we prefer if you do not visit for more than two hours at a time to allow us to promote rest. From 7/7/20 patients at the hospice may be able to have extra visitors to the window of their room- if you would like to have this arranged please discuss with the charge nurse on duty.
Are hospices sad and gloomy places? Expand Hospices are full of light, love and joy. Yes, there are naturally times of deep sadness and loss as in life. But the work hospices do focus on the quality of life for however long a patient has. The buildings, gardens, and work of the staff and volunteers make hospices a haven of peace, solace, dignity and compassion.
Is it true once you go into a hospice you’ll never come out? Expand Many people return home after a period of assessment, treatment or symptom control. Once their needs are met they go home again. Some patients do choose to come to a hospice to die, knowing they will be given the specialist and holistic care they need to ensure that their death is as peaceful, dignified and comfortable as possible. Those in the hospice who wish to die at home, are supported by the hospice team to return home and be cared for there, wherever possible.
Is hospice and palliative care just for people with cancer? Expand Anyone with a chronic life limiting illness can benefit from hospice care, covering those with a whole variety of illnesses including neurological conditions, end stage heart failure and lung disease – not just cancer.
Does palliative care mean managing pain mainly through the use of addictive drugs? Expand Palliative care means whole person care providing psychological and spiritual care along with pain and symptom management. It is the body and soul care of someone who is alive with maybe hours, days, months or years left to live. It is about making today matter.
Do hospices and palliative care accelerate dying? Expand Hospices and palliative care neither prolong or hasten dying. Its aim is to ensure the best quality of that’s possible, until the very end of someone’s life.
Are hospices just for old people? Expand Hospice care covers all ages. Adult hospices look after over 16’s while patients under 16 are looked after in CHAS hospices – Children’s Hospices Across Scotland – at Rachel House in Perthshire and Robin House near Loch Lomond in Balloch.
Does being referred to a hospice mean you’re going to die soon? Expand Hospices have a holistic approach that aims to make the most of your life and supports not just the patients but their carers and family with spiritual care, bereavement care and a focus on living until the end, not dying. Some patients and families use hospice services for years.
Do you have to pay or make donation for hospice care? Expand It is totally FREE to patients and their families and mainly paid for by voluntary donations, fundraising as well as a contribution from local health boards
Do Macmillan and Marie Curie run all the hospices and palliative care services in the UK? Expand All the independent hospices in Scotland are run by independent charities. Independent Scottish hospices receive no financial support from the UK wide charities of Macmillan and Marie Curie.
Are hospices all about in-patient beds and the care provided in those beds? Expand Hospice care is patient centred and is delivered to patients in their own homes, in the community, hospitals, care homes and day service areas as well as in-patient units. Hospice care can be accessed through local GPs and other health professionals. It’s all about making the most of life.