8 Greenwich & Bexley Community Hospice
GOOD COMMUNI ‘When we’re all on the same page it empowers patients’ To achieve its vision of delivering the highest quality holistic care for every patient and family it supports, Greenwich & Bexley Community Hospice works closely with other partner organisations, including Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust.
T
ogether hospice staff and the community teams at Oxleas work tirelessly to ensure seamless nursing care is provided for people living with life-limiting illness in local communities across the two boroughs. Here Charlotte Steward, lead nurse for endof-life care (Greenwich) and Karen Smith, lead nurse for end-of-life care (Bexley) at Oxleas, explain how working in close collaboration with the hospice is paying dividends for patients, and their families. When you work in the field of end-of-life nursing care only one thing is certain – that no two patients are the same. Forging strong links between the organisations that provide this seamless care is crucial, especially when you’re dealing with complex cases. It’s definitely good to talk, and that’s exactly the approach that both the clinical teams at Greenwich & Bexley Community Hospice and the community nursing teams at Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust take.
Charlotte Steward Within Oxleas community service the two London boroughs are supported to develop their palliative and end of life care by Charlotte and Karen. Charlotte having joined the role in March 2021, and Karen started this April, both have extensive backgrounds in District Nursing. There are six district nursing teams working in Bexley, and four in Greenwich, with additional ‘twilight’ team nurses who work from 5 to 11pm, and overnight cover in Bexley. “To do the job you need empathy, compassion and to be a great listener, also to have a good knowledge basis and experience in end-of-life care,” Karen says. “The nurses don’t just care for patients but for their families as well. It is our district nurses who provide most symptom management and pain support, in conjunction with the hospice.” Charlotte explains: “The relationships have always been good between our wider nursing team and the hospice community team. Good communication is key. Our
