Bereaved families to get extra support after loss

The service at the Royal Surrey hospital in Guildford aims to support grieving relatives

Families grieving for relatives can benefit from a new bereavement service in Surrey.

Staff within the supportive and palliative care team at the Royal Surrey hospital in Guildford have developed the service.

The team said about three months after a patient died it would contact relatives to check on their mental wellbeing.

A spokesperson said it wanted to "establish supportive relationships" with bereaved relatives "when they are feeling very vulnerable".

Lucy Kellaway, lead nurse for supportive and palliative care, said: “At the moment families get given a bereavement booklet by the ward after their relative dies.

"We always wanted to try to offer something a bit more personal than that.

“It’s been a long time coming."

The hospital said if there were any concerns about how they were managing, they could be sent to services that might be able to help.

"Sometimes when people are struggling they don’t know where to go or where to look," Ms Kellaway said.

She added: “Often when someone dies, bereaved people have a lot of support initially from people around them and they have a lot to organise with the funeral and the admin that comes with it.

“Often, after three to four months people find the support dissipates a little as lives return to normal again. That’s the time when people need that contact."

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