"St Luke's Hospice - Kenton Grange"

My father was admitted to St Luke's Hospice in August 2020, Kenton for both palliative and respite care. This was our first experience as a family of such type of care and St Luke's staff have been amazing. We contacted the Single Point of Access (SPA) Service when we needed support for my dad, and we were overwhelmed at the kindness and responsiveness of the service. From the first point of contact, within hours, we were contacted by the relevant professionals and a plan was put in place and home support services arrived the next day. After further review it was considered appropriate for my dad to go for a respite visit to try to improve his condition and support my mum as his sole carer. 

The care he received at St Luke's can only be described as above and beyond. They treated him with dignity, while providing an end to end service that supported both his medical needs and his mental health in terms of end of life.

Simple words can not express the wonderful way the carers, medical professionals and volunteers have supported my dad, however I wanted to put forward a few points for all to consider:

1) St Luke's is not just for the final days of life - it has an incredibly supportive service for the carer and their families - please reach out to them as they were a source of great help  

2) Respite care is often talked about - but the person in need or the family often fear that going to a hospice means the end/failure to support in the home - it was certainly not the case - the hospice were able to review the whole picture with dad, reverse certain  medical side effects and help him holistically as well as giving the carer - my mum a desperately needed break

3) The work this hospice does is not just a 'job' for the staff - they looked after my dad like family - for anyone considering donating or raising money please, please consider this hospice as it has been a lifeline to us and with the pressures of government with their funding is always at risk of being reduced/pulled. It could be anyone of us that might need it in the future.