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There are lots of activities happening at our Sydenham site that are open to anyone and everyone. Whether you’re under our care, visiting a friend or relative, or just dropping in for a cuppa; you are welcome to attend any of these activities.
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This leaflet contains further information on your medicines and the way that we sometimes use them in palliative care. If you have any more questions please ask your doctor, nurse or pharmacist. (more…)

This audio-visual resource was developed at the request of NHS nurse educators tasked with supporting and integrating newly appointed international nurse recruits.

Advance Care Planning is a process of discussion between an individual and their care provider. Wishes and preferences are documented in an Advance Care Plan booklet which becomes a patient held record. This has been designed to be provided in the hard copy format which you can obtain from St Christopher’s bookshop. Please do not print from the website. Thank you.

This leaflet explains how to consider your choices and preferences for the future – if you have any other questions, we hope you will talk them over with a member of staff who will be glad to help.
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This framework has been designed to support GPs to have advance care planning conversations
with patients by phone or video, in the context of COVID-19. It is a tool to help you have honest
and open conversations.

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If you need advice or support, please call us on 020 8768 4582; please be prepared to leave your number and a brief outline of your query.

An opportunity to better end of life care for older people

Report by Caroline Nicholson and Heather Richardson

“This document is a “call to arms” to the Hospice movement to recognise that there are a large group of people who currently are denied palliative care…This is a very timely publication. The challenge to us all is to reflect and then act to improve care for our frail older patients.”

Dr Eileen Burns
President of the British Geriatric Society, Consultant in Older People’s Medicine

Anticipatory prescribing refers to charts and, where appropriate, medications that are left in a person’s usual place of residence for use by visiting clinicians should problems arise with uncontrolled symptoms.

• Patients are most vulnerable to these in the last days of life and when they are no longer able to swallow
• The common ones are pain, nausea and vomiting, distress and agitation and respiratory secretions
• The guidance below covers these.

There has been controversy over the best practice for clinicians to adopt following the widely publicised Gosport Enquiry.

• General, national guidance and policies are currently under development and several members of the clinical team at St Christopher’s are closely involved with this work
• Our current guidance reflects the developing thinking, is subject to regular review and scrutiny and will be modified as further evidence emerges around the best and safest practice to adopt
• Our 24 hour specialist advice and support is there to back up this general guidance to ensure, as far as possible, that clinical decisions are individualised and safe.

DOWNLOAD ANTICIPATORY PRESCRIBING GUIDANCE FOR FRAIL ELDERLY PATIENTS (PDF)
DOWNLOAD ANTICIPATORY PRESCRIBING GUIDANCE FOR ADULTS (PDF)
DOWNLOAD PAN LONDON SYMPTOM CONTROL MEDICATION AUTHORISATION AND ADMINISTRATION RECORD (PDF)

Nursing Times article advising clinicians not to use the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) when assessing whether people with learning disabilities and other conditions should be admitted to critical care. 

Most people will experience bereavement at some time in their life. Everyone reacts to their loss in their own unique way

Grief can be very painful and may give rise to feelings and thoughts that you don’t expect. You may find the information in this leaflet helpful. (more…)

This leaflet will provide you with basic advice to help you manage your breathlessness. It is intended to act as a reminder following a physiotherapy session – please ask if you have any questions. (more…)

Helping you to get the right care, in the right place, at the right time

Who we are

Our friendly team of clinical nurse specialists, staff nurses and healthcare assistants are on hand to support people living in Bromley with advanced illness and frailty enabling them to remain at home and live well.

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Who we are

Bromley Care Coordination (BCC) is provided by our expert team at St Christopher’s and commissioned by Bromley Clinical Comissioning Group. The service enables patients with advanced illness, multi-morbidities and frailty to receive timely and coordinated care in the community.

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Calling everyone with a taste for adventure, Bungee Jumping is an activity that the vast majority of people are capable of undertaking. You can bungee jump for St Christopher’s at anytime throughout the year.

We ask that you pay £75 registration fee to cover the cost of your jump, then raise £150 sponsorship to which will go directly to supporting the work of St Christopher’s.

Please visit the UK Bungee Club website to book yours today or call UK Bungee on 0845 319 5767 for group bookings. Don’t forget to let us know you are jumping for St Christopher’s so we can support you with fundraising tips, ideas, and a t-shirt to wear on the day!

Parents and carers want to do the best for their children, and it is very hard to know what is best for them when a death has happened. You are trying to come to terms with what has happened, cope with painful and difficult feelings, and there are so many decisions and choices to be made.

This leaflet has been written to help you think about your children and the funeral, why they should have the chance to go, and how to answer some of their questions.

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St Christopher’s has been providing bereavement counselling to patients’ families for over 50 years. St Christopher’s Candle Child Bereavement Service extends this support to all children, young people and their families in the south east London area, covering the boroughs of Croydon, Bromley, Lewisham, Southwark and Lambeth. Any parent, carer, teacher or healthcare professional can make a referral to the Candle Child Bereavement Service. Young people aged over 16 can refer themselves.

We also offer a specialist training, advice and consultancy service to schools and other agencies working with children facing bereavement.

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How to help your bereaved child

You may be bereaved yourself, and may be finding it hard to keep your child’s needs in mind with all that is happening.The following points are a guide to help you focus on what is going on for them. (more…)

How to help a bereaved young person – a guide for adults

Every year many young people experience the death of someone they are close to. Some of these deaths will be sudden and some will be after a long illness, but all losses can be difficult for teenagers. This leaflet is designed to help you understand some of the aspects of a death that are hard for young people and to give some ideas about how you can offer support. (more…)

Helping your child

Everyone is very shocked when someone dies suddenly. There has been no time to prepare and often no warning that the person was going to die. Shock affects adults and children physically and emotionally, and some of the effects you may notice are feeling dizzy or sick, shaky, shivery, hot and cold. After a shock we often feel very unsafe for a while, and need to take things quietly. This leaflet mentions some of the things you and your child may be feeling. (more…)

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This leaflet has been compiled by nurses from the Care Home Project Team at St Christopher’s in collaboration with nurses from dementia care units to help support relatives of people with advanced dementia living and dying in care homes. (more…)

This guidance is produced to help support people who are caring for someone who is dying at home from COVID-19 infection

Get down to the Chatterton Arms in Bromley this Christmas for a race day and live music fundraiser in aid of St Christopher’s!

Are you feeling lucky? Buy and name a horse for the chance to win big!

Go to racenights.co.uk to find out more.

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NHS Clinical Guide for Management of Palliative Care in Hospitals during the coronavirus pandemic

This leaflet gives you information on Clostridium difficile (C.diff) and how St Christopher’s is working to control it. (more…)

You have been referred to the cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) clinic here at St Christopher’s Hospice either because you have asked for some help or because a member of the team has suggested that you come. This leaflet aims to answer some of the more common questions about CBT and help you understand a little more about what to expect. (more…)

This leaflet explains what you can expect as an inpatient at St Christopher’s. We hope to answer your concerns by concentrating on the most commonly asked questions. If you have any more
questions please ask your doctor or nurse.
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A guide to end of life care symptom control when a person is dying from Covid-19 for General Practice Teams, prepared by the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Association for Palliative Medicine.

This leaflet explains about complementary therapies available at St Christopher’s and Harris HospisCare – if you have any other questions, we hope you will talk them over with a member of staff who will be glad to help. If you are thinking of using another complementary therapy service, please ask us for further information. (more…)

We have had several requests from Care Homes asking if we can offer support to individual staff. This is why we have created a new staff support service called Hear For You.

What is Hear For You?

Hear For You offers confidential telephone and email support to all care home staff. It is provided by experienced staff and counsellors here at St Christopher’s. Think of this as a ‘check in’ service to support your wellbeing. You may want to talk about a difficult moment at work, worries about your family or friends or simply offload for a few minutes. Whatever you need we’ll do our best to support you – your emotional wellbeing is very important to us.

How do I access support?

Simply email us at hearforyou@stchristophers.org.uk or call us on 020 8768 4688. Let us know which CCG you work in, and where possible the care home you work for. This will remain completely confidential. We will be available between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday. If you want to book in a call outside of these times simply email us and we’ll do our best to fit this in for you.

Is this support confidential?

Please rest assured that everything you share will remain confidential unless we have a concern that falls within our safeguarding protocol.

1 What does consent really mean?

Before any doctor, nurse or therapist examines or treats you, they must seek your permission or ‘consent’ to do so.
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Why do I need to supported with care using ‘contact precautions’?

If you are being cared for in this way, it may be because you are infected with a micro-organism that can be passed to other people, or because you have symptoms of a contagious disease. For example, you might have a rash that could mean you have chicken pox or shingles, or, if you have diarrhoea and vomiting this could mean you have a gastrointestinal infection. If any of this applies to you, we will explain the reasons for needing to use these extra precautions. (more…)

Coordinate My Care is an innovative NHS service that builds medical care around the wishes of each patient. You create the plan with your GP: then we share it with all the healthcare professionals who might treat you. So everyone looking after you knows exactly what you want.

Quick Reference Guide to CMC Urgent Care Plans

This leaflet describes some of the physical changes that happen to people as they start to die. It anticipates some of the questions you may want to ask about what is happening and why, and encourages you to ask for further help or information if there is anything at all that is worrying you.
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1 Coping with feelings of depression

There is no right or wrong way to feel when you or someone close to you has a terminal illness. You may experience a range of emotions, at different times. You may feel shock, fear, anger and resentment. Or you may feel helpless, sad, frustrated or perhaps experience relief and acceptance. You may also feel isolated and alone, even if you have family and friends around you.
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Marie Curie’s advice on understanding COVID-19 if you’re affected by a terminal illness

Marie Curie’s advice on understanding covid-19 if you’re affected by a terminal illness

Marie Curie’s advice on understanding Covid-19 if you’re affected by a terminal illness:

Guidance for health and social care staff who are caring for, or treating, a person who lacks the relevant mental capacity.

This programme is freely available to colleagues working in the NHS, independent sector and social care.

The Royal College of GP’s coronavirus resource hub which includes a palliative care section

Learning Disability Wales guidance resources for Covid-19 

Carers in Southampton, Covid 19 learning disability resources

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, Covid 19 Guidance on supporting staff who are self-isolating, communicating with patients, remote working and reviewing and stopping critical care treatment 

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Community palliative, end of life and bereavement care in the Covid-19 pandemic

A guide to end of life care symptom control when a person is dying from Covid-19 for General Practice Teams, prepared by the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Association for Palliative Medicine.

Royal College of Psychiatrists, Community and inpatient services – COVID-19 guidance for clinicians

Cruse provides support services for people across the UK who have been bereaved. The helpline offers listening support and practical advice related to bereavement, including dealing with an estate, debt and arranging a funeral.

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Low mood is common and maybe even more prevalent at this time. Lauren will talk you though the common things you may feel and how to identify if you need more support as well as strategies that might help you.

Introduction

Lots of people have a problem with sleeping at some time during their lives. If you are ill, sleep can be hard because of anxiety, worry about treatment, fears about the future, or just because you are going through a stressful time in your life. (more…)

This leaflet is intended for general guidance only and we suggest that you obtain proper legal advice if you are in doubt about the meaning of anything. Some of the legal terms used in this leaflet are explained below. (more…)

This leaflet aims to answer frequently asked questions about appetite, weight loss and the need for fluids or artificial hydration (fluid intake given by a drip) if you, or the person you are caring for, become very ill. (more…)

In this session our Dietician, Lorna, will explore the principles of healthy eating and how you can put this into practice. You can also visit the British Dietetic Association website for more healthy eating resources.

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The aim of this guidance is to support clinicians and others in considering the needs of and providing high quality care for frail older people as they move towards the end of their lives. 

End of Life Journal was a free, online, peer-reviewed journal that published articles on all aspects of nursing practice relating to end-of-life care.

The journal was primarily aimed at generalist nurses working in hospital, community and care home settings. Many articles will also be of interest to the palliative care nursing audience as well as members of the wider multidisciplinary team.

The journal focused on care for patients with both malignant and non-malignant disease and their family and friends.

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In this video we hope to give you an understanding of what exercise is, the different types of exercise, what you might want to exercise and how you can put this into practice. The guidance here is general and may not be appropriate to you.

A set of four videos designed to help people through exercise

A set of four videos designed to help people through exercise.

What are ESBLs?

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St. Christopher’s Fabrics and Threads group will be exhibiting a selection of their quilts and textiles work.

Come along to an inspiring evening, with the opportunity to meet the artists and look forward to enjoying some wine and cheese whilst viewing these incredible works of art!

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The aim of Fit for Life is to support your physical and emotional wellbeing through video sessions on exercise, sleep, mood and eating well amongst others. With plenty of advice and support available via email, this free series of videos will give you food for thought and the tools that you need to take action.

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Our End of Life Care webinar series launched April 16 and is free to all care homes. In this three-part weekly series, we share our expertise in practices such as Advance Care Planning, Coordinate my Care (myCMC), and Challenging Conversations – covering the important aspects of communications around death and dying during Covid-19.

When you are referred to our services, one of the questions we will ask you is about your ‘next of kin’. This is a term that most people have come across without knowing exactly what it means. This leaflet aims to explain it. (more…)