New nursing team to support end-of-life patients

The Living Well team is due to start work in June

A new team of nurses is set to support islanders with life-limiting illnesses and their families.

Jersey's government said from June the Living Well team would help coordinate physical, mental and spiritual care for patients who are in the last 12 months of their life.

The team has been appointed by the End-of-Life Partnership, a group of organisations that includes Health and Care Jersey (HCJ) and Jersey Hospice Care (JHC) which are both funding it.

The team will be based at Jersey Hospice but will work across the community and in Jersey General Hospital, the partnership has said.

'Experienced support'

Director of palliative care services at JCH, Rose Naylor, said: "The Living Well team of experienced nurses will support islanders and their families from the point of diagnosis with whatever matters most to them – whether that is managing symptoms, talking through worries or helping with practical concerns.

"They will work alongside other health and care providers to support care that is co-ordinated and enables the person to live well in a way that is right for them."

The End-of-Life Partnership said it had also appointed a doctor and two nurse educators to provide health and care workers, and family carers, with the "skills needed to deliver holistic and compassionate care for dying Islanders".

The group said the healthcare workers would be taught about advance care planning and symptom control to help give patients the best quality of life.

The details of the new team were announced during Dying Matters Week which ends on Sunday and is aimed at breaking down taboos around death.

The End-Of-Life Partnership is due to hold a pop-up event in St Helier on 15 May to discuss the services it offers.