FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

Care

Can the Hospice of the Good Shepherd help me where I live?

We provide care for people with life limiting illnesses living in Chester, West Cheshire, part of South Wirral and the Deeside area of Wales.

What does the Hospice of the Good Shepherd do?

It provides first class care and support for people with life limiting illnesses who need expert help to control difficult symptoms, such as pain, especially, but not entirely, those with cancer. There are 12 beds for inpatients as well as outpatient clinics and day therapy facilities. In addition, with the help of community nurses, many patients and families are supported in their own homes. There are also other useful services, such as bereavement support and complementary therapy.

Can I refer myself to the hospice?

The only hospice service that you can do this for is the bereavement service. If you think you would benefit from any other aspect of care at the hospice, please speak to your GP or another health care professional.

What does palliative care mean?

The word palliative means to alleviate disease without curing (Concise Oxford Dictionary). The term palliative care is commonly used to describe care provided to relieve troublesome symptoms due to medical conditions for which there are no curative treatments available.

Palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problem associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual. Palliative care:

provides relief from pain and other distressing symptoms;
affirms life and regards dying as a normal process;
intends neither to hasten or postpone death;
integrates the psychological and spiritual aspects of patient care;
offers a support system to help patients live as actively as possible until death;
offers a support system to help the family cope during the patient’s illness and in their own bereavement;
uses a team approach to address the needs of patients and their families;
enhances quality of life and may also positively influence the course of illness;
is applicable early in the course of illness, in conjunction with other therapies that are intended to prolong life, and includes those investigations needed to better understand and manage clinical complications.

Palliative care can be provided by a range of health and social care staff and may be done alongside treatment intended to reverse particular conditions.

Specialist palliative care is the active, total care of patients with progressive, advanced disease and of their families. Care is provided by a multi-professional team who have undergone recognised specialist palliative care training.

Everyone who goes into a bed in the hospice dies, don’t they?

No! Around half of the patients who go into an in-patient bed at the Hospice of the Good Shepherd actually get discharged back to their own home or move to a care home or other appropriate location.

Do you care for children at the Hospice of the Good Shepherd?

The Reflect Service is available for childhood bereavement issues but there are no other children’s services at this hospice. However, fortunately there are specialist children’s hospices in the area, such as Claire House and Hope House.

What are the visiting times?

Visiting hours are 1.30 – 4pm and 5 – 7.30pm.

How do I give comments, feedback or suggestions about the care provided at the hospice?

To enable us to constantly strive to improve our hospice services we are always keen to receive comments, whether positive or negative. Please click here to do so, or write to the Chief Executive.

How do I make a complaint about the care I have received at the hospice?

We value your feedback, whether it’s a comment, suggestion, or complaint and would always wish to address and resolve a situation as quickly as possible. Further details can be found on our complaints procedure page.

Finances

How much would it cost me to go to the hospice?

Nothing! All care provided to patients is totally free. The Hospice of the Good Shepherd is a registered charity and has to generate about 75% of its running costs through donations and other fundraising.

The Hospice gets all the money it needs from the government via the NHS, doesn’t it?

No! Only about one-quarter of the running costs come from the government. But importantly, services for individuals are always provided entirely free of charge.

So where does the hospice get the rest of the money it needs to run the services?

The other three quarters of the running costs have to be raised from individual and corporate donations, fundraising, gifts in wills (bequests and legacies), shop sales, etc. Thus we are independent of the NHS and government. The hospice is a registered charity and needs over £7,000 every single day to keep it running.

Gift Aid – what is it?

If you give money to the hospice and you pay income tax, then you can increase the value of your donation by 25% at no additional cost to you simply by signing a Gift Aid form. So, for example if you donate £20 that becomes £25 for the hospice!