Paul Sartori Hospice at Home, a local charity, supporting end of life and palliative patients, their families and carers have recently been awarded a grant from Elise Pilkington Charitable Trust. The grant of £10,000 has been given to extend its previous support given to patients living at home with dementia in Pembrokeshire.
“This funding has come at a crucial time for us. We had funding for a few trails where we recognised a need for support. We know the difference this care makes to local families supporting a relative with dementia at home. It can be exhausting. Quite often they cannot leave their loved one unattended and they get very little time to themselves, which can have a great impact on the family carer. This project will increase the resilience of the family carer and support the patient in a familiar environment where they feel comfortable and secure,” said Laura Hugman, Clinical Team Manager at Paul Sartori Hospice at Home.
The award will fund up to 232 hours of hands-on home nursing care, allowing day and night-time respite for those families who are struggling. Families can access support during the day – so they can address their own care needs, attend appointments, catch up with friends, enjoy their hobbies or just rest. Families who need respite can also access support during the night. They will have peace of mind knowing that their loved one is looked after by Paul Sartori staff who are experienced and trained in many complex medical conditions.
“We were delighted to hear that the Elise Pilkington Charitable Trust have agreed to support this much-needed provision in Pembrokeshire,” said Judith Williams, Grant Development Officer at Paul Sartori Hospice at Home.
“The Elise Pilkington Trust were delighted to be able to support this important work at Paul Sartori in supporting end of life patients with advanced dementia. This fits very well with our aims of supporting projects dedicated to addressing the needs of older people with advanced dementia (and their carers) in domestic, community and formal care settings,” said Ruth Tarry, Chairman from the Elise Pilkington Charitable Trust.
This follows on from support provided by NFU Mutual’s Agency Giving Fund and the Hywel Dda University Health Board, where both trials proved invaluable for local families. Although Dementia was not recognised until recently as something you can die of. According to the Office for National Statistics, Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease was recorded as one of the leading causes of death in Wales in April 2023. The Paul Sartori Hospice at Home Clinical Staff Team are aware of the difference supporting those living with Dementia and the impact on families and will work with the Admiral and Marie Curie Dementia Nurses to enhance the support locally.
The Paul Sartori Team play an important part in supporting end of life patients and their families, which also enhances the provision of other local services. With the team’s flexible and rapid approach, they support the patient’s wish to be cared for in their own home. They offer a patient-centred approach to care – assessing patients, referring to other internal services, work closely with other healthcare providers and are available as advisors. They provide a wide range of other services, including home nursing care, 24-hour support, standby service, complementary therapy, bereavement and counselling support, physiotherapy, future care planning and training. These services enable people in the later stages of any life limiting illness to be cared for and to die at home with dignity, independence, pain free and surrounded by those they hold most dear if that is their wish. Further information on the charity and its services can be obtained by visiting their website www.paulsartori.org, or by phoning 01437 763223.