Care at home
Community Nursing
St Luke’s Combined Hospices is provided to patients in the comfort of their homes by an Interdisciplinary team consisting of Professional Nurses, Social Workers, Medical Doctors, Carers, Spiritual and Bereavement Counsellors, Complimentary Therapists and Volunteers who ensure our patients across the Peninsula are well cared for. The community Professional Nurses fulfil an instrumental role in conducting comprehensive initial assessment in addition to identifying the needs and challenges with the patient and family including a tentative plan established to address these. The issues that commonly arise include pain management, other unpleasant symptoms associated with end-of-life care, and nursing care needs. Our palliative care trained nurses provide guidance and explanation regarding the management of symptoms and care, in liaison with the patient’s own doctor and our palliative care doctors. Symptoms and other medical issues are carefully monitored and there is an ongoing review of symptom management to ensure that the patient is comfortable and to promote independence and quality of life.
Our nurses can be accessed during office hours. In case of any emergencies contact your nearest emergency centre or the Department of Health call centre at 112. Patients are also referred, where needed, to other community-based service providers for carers and / or basic nursing services as we do not a hands-on service but work collaboratively with stakeholders and partners. Our holistic approach is patient-centred where our community nurses provide professional, quality services to our patients and families in our service delivery areas, as part of the interdisciplinary team.
Psychosocial Care Services
We have a dedicated team of Social Workers who work alongside the medical team providing supportive services for the patient and family, including counselling, food relief programmes, family meetings, supporting patients and families in care planning together with the interdisciplinary team. The social work team offers a holistic psychosocial approach from diagnosis to end of life care.
The interdisciplinary team ensures that the patients and their families are well informed about their diagnosis, disease progression and prognosis. We link our patients and families to various service providers via referrals for; social grant applications, UIF claims, work force compensation, placements, wills and care of minor children.
The social work team is actively involved in running and facilitating our Day Hospice programmes together with the other members of the interdisciplinary team, including volunteers.
Spiritual Care Services
A key focus of high quality palliative care is the provision of spiritual care. Spirituality has to do with how we make sense of the world, including how we connect to ourselves, to each other, and to our universe. St Luke’s Combined Hospices has Spiritual Care workers and Coordinators who support a team of Volunteers providing care in our in-patient setting, through our day hospice services and in the community.
Spiritual Care Services include:
- A listening ear
- Companionship
- Prayer and rituals
- Meditation
- Visualisation
- Reading and writing
- Arts and Crafts
- Music and song
- Help in connecting with a faith or spiritual tradition that has meaning for the patient
- Help in planning funerals or other rituals to mark and commemorate times of loss and change
Bereavement Support Services
Bereavement counselling and support is available at St Luke’s Combined Hospices through the psychosocial team, which is coordinated by a health care professional and staffed by a group of trained volunteer counsellors. Any relatives or close friends of patients at St Luke’s Combined Hospices may request free counselling following the death of a loved one. Counselling can be for a period of 13 months after the death and can be telephonic, face-to-face or via web based platforms (Zoom). If you require bereavement counselling and are not a registered patient with St Luke’s Combined Hospices, the bereavement department will refer you to community based organisations or private service providers in the community.
If you wish to contact us about any bereavement matters, please do so on:
+27 (0)21 797 5335 and to speak to our referrals social worker or write to us