27 May 2020

St Luke's Hospice

• St Luke's Hospice Core services will continue to run but will return to Pre-Covid level of activities as the pandemic eases
• Inpatient Unit (IPU): return to normal level of capacity (12 beds) as of the 1st July if downward trend in Covid cases continues
• Community CNS/AHP teams: will retain use of AccuRX and will continue with teams working remotely were possible and ensuring any office-based work is in line with government guidance regarding creating a Covid secure environment
• End of Live Urgent Care Team: No changes but will reduce capacity to normal levels as of the 1 July, redeployed staff will return to substantive posts over the summer period
• Education: from 1 September we will return restart our program of training following risk assessments and any adjustments required. We will work to implement the use of more on-line teaching methods e.g.: Webinars.
• Bereavement helpline: will continue to the end of August. We will evaluate it usefulness with local organisations and decide at that point to continue dependent on the evaluation and access to ongoing funding to do so.

Rowcroft Hospice

• Core services will continue to run
• Inpatient Unit (IPU): most of our 'at risk' staff have returned to the unit
• Staff redeployed to the unit will return to their substantive posts elsewhere in the organisation by June 1st, excepting one staff member still shielding awaiting further national guidance and one part-time consultant still needing to work remotely
• Hospice@Home: this service will resume its pre-COVID capacity from July 1st as staff deployed into this service are required to return to their substantive posts. Capacity will therefore reduce to circa 8 patients per day from this date
• Community: no changes. We will retain the use of AccuRX to continue to support remote assessments and reduce the need for home visits unless needed until COVID is no longer a threat
• Complementary/Music TX: We are considering what this offer will be, particularly for Comp TX given the requirement to wear PPE within 2m of patients
• OPD: following risk assessment of the environment to ensure it is COVID-secure we will reopen the use of the clinic facilities for medical, physio and Comp TX consultations/treatment.
• Education: from 1 September we plan to restart our programme of training following risk assessment and any adjustments required. We will also look to use more on-line training methods such as webinars as well, keeping face to face for the essential training programmes like advance communication skills training whilst maintaining COVID-secure practices
• COVID Emotional helpline: we will evaluate the use of the service before the end of August when it is due to finish and we will decide with our colleagues whether to there is a need to continue it and any ongoing costs that would need to be considered

Scope

This information provides guidance on the management of palliative patients across Western Devon during the Covid-19 pandemic. The information is based on Community Palliative Care Western locality guidance – COVID-19.

Please find below guidance around managing patients who are in the community with COVID-19

For advice or questions regarding this guidance, please contact the St Luke's/Rowcroft HospiceTeams

For further guidance of palliative care management please refer to the Southwest Devon Formulary Chapter 16.

COVID-19: NHS Devon CCG-End of Life Care Resource for GPs (inc.links to the Formulary Guidance)

Pathway Group

This guideline has been signed off on behalf of the NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group