The RVI palliative care team includes doctors, nurses and healthcare assistants. Separate palliative care teams work across the North East and Cumbria, they review patients in other hospitals, hospices and at home.
Referring to palliative care
We accept referrals from other healthcare professionals. Your doctor or nurse will talk to you about a referral to our team.
Palliative care support
We support people living with life limiting illnesses and their families. We consider physical symptoms, psychological symptoms, social challenges and future care planning. We work with other members of the cystic fibrosis team to develop a bespoke plan centred around what matters most to you. People sometimes worry that our involvement means that they are dying. We do care for people at the end of their lives, but we meet lots of other people too for a variety of reasons. For example, we recently supported someone who had symptoms caused by planned intravenous antibiotic treatment.
If you are referred to the RVI palliative care team we will review you on the ward during your inpatient stay. It is fine for family members or friends to be there when we review you if this is your preference.
We are available Monday to Friday between 8.30am and 5pm. If you telephone outside of these hours you will be able to leave a message on our answer machine. On Saturday and Sunday between 8.30am and 4.30pm, the service can be contacted via your ward team.
