The Macmillan Palliative Care Team cares for people in North East Lincolnshire and comprises of specialist nursing, social and welfare teams.

We provide support for people within their own homes, hospital, residential or nursing home. The Macmillan Palliative Care Team work in partnership with St Andrew’s Hospice, the Haven Team and Macmillan Living with and Beyond Cancer Team.

Our Aim

To provide support and advice to people with a life limiting illness whatever the diagnosis enabling them to maximise their quality of life and spend their final days in their preferred place of care.

How we can help?

When you or a loved one is facing a life limiting illness, it can be a very scary and lonely experience. The Macmillan Palliative Care Team provide advice and support to improve the quality of life of you and your carers.

We provide advice regarding the management of symptoms associated with your illness and provide information and psychological support regarding your diagnosis, investigations and treatments.

We also take away the burden of liaison between other professionals and work closely with multi-professional health and care teams.

Our approach is a holistic one, and we not only care and support you but also your relatives, children and carers who are affected by your advanced progressive illness. Our aim is to give you and your family the best possible quality of life.

In addition to medical and emotional support we can also help with the practical aspects which can cause additional stress and worry. This includes practical support and advice in claiming benefits; assistance with utilities / fuel poverty; help with funeral costs and complex benefit or housing issues.

Who can we help?

The Macmillan Palliative Care support is available to residents in North East Lincolnshire.

We are here to help people with complex and / or palliative care needs and provide support including –

• Assessing, implementing and monitoring strategies to relieve distressing symptoms
• Providing psychological, spiritual and social care in confidence, to both patients and carers
• Enabling patients and carers to make informed choices relating to diagnosis, treatment and procedures

Macmillan Palliative Care Social Workers

The Macmillan Palliative Care social workers are part of the integrated support team at St. Andrews Hospice. Working closely with the hospice palliative care social worker, caseworker and Children’s Family Support and bereavement practitioner, to provide an all-age palliative care service, delivering pre- and post-bereavement support for adults and children in all settings. Criteria to access support require Individuals to be registered with a North East Lincolnshire  GP or receiving services from St. Andrew’s or Andy’s Children’s Hospice.

The social workers also work closely with the wider specialist palliative care team, social welfare team and North East Lincolnshire bereavement service.

Bespoke support is provided according to an individual’s assessed need, which can include 1 to 1 psychological support in relation to diagnosis or complex family dynamics,  group support for young carers, family sessions, memory work, advocacy, individual carer support, or referral to external  services.

Additionally, the Macmillan palliative care social workers are responsible for developing and delivery of  bespoke education programmes for health and social care professionals, patients or families on how to  support individuals at end of life  and ways to cope with loss and bereavement.

Strategically, the Macmillan social workers work with external organisations and  Macmillan Cancer support  to promote the development of all age palliative and end of life care  and bereavement support services.