Palliative Care
Hospice Services
Hospice Services
What is a hospice?
The aim of hospice care is to improve the lives of people who have an incurable illness. Hospices provide care for people from the point at which their illness is diagnosed as terminal to the end of their life, however long that may be.
That doesn't mean hospice care needs to be continuous. People sometimes like to take a break from hospice care if their condition has become stable and they are feeling well.
Hospice care places a high value on dignity, respect and the wishes of the person who is ill. It aims to look after all their medical, emotional, social, practical, psychological, and spiritual needs, and the needs of the person's family and carers. Looking after all these aspects is often referred to as "holistic care".
Care also extends to those who are close to the patient, as well as into the bereavement period after the patient has died.
Most hospice care is provided in your own home, but it can also be provided in a care home, as an inpatient at the hospice itself, or as a day patient visiting the hospice. Hospice care is a style of care, rather than something that takes place in a specific building.
Which is the local hospice?
The local Hospice is Dorothy House Hospice Care and has sites in Winsley, Trowbridge and Peasedown St John. The Hospice covers Bath and North East Somerset, parts of Wiltshire and parts of Somerset - an area of 700sq miles.
If you would like more information about the services offered at Dorothy House, please visit dorothyhouse.org.uk or call:
0345 0130 555