What is being done and why
Nationally
NHS England’s Palliative and End of Life Care Programme focuses on:
- Personalised care in the last year of life tailored to individual needs and wishes.
- Supporting people to live well until they die with dignity and comfort.
- Addressing inequalities in access to palliative care across communities.
- Promoting early identification of palliative needs and coordinated care across services.
Regionally
North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust provides:
- Specialist palliative care teams that support patients with life-limiting illnesses.
- Services that focus on comfort, dignity, and emotional support for patients and families.
- Coordination with GPs, hospitals, hospices and community services to ensure continuity of care.
Locally
Hartlepool Borough Council and local NHS partners are working to:
- Deliver personalised and well-coordinated end of life care through collaboration with GPs, hospitals, hospices and voluntary organisations.
- Support people to die in their preferred place.
- Implement the national Ambitions for Palliative and End of Life Care framework, which emphasises dignity, respect and symptom control.
- Monitor and support patients through the palliative care register which helps GPs and care teams plan and deliver appropriate care.
Services:
- Hartlepool Borough Council, End of Life Care (Dying Well) – the council supports a coordinated approach to end-of-life care, aiming to ensure people are treated with dignity, respect and comfort in their final days.
- Local Care Homes with Palliative / End of Life Care – Elwick Grange, Sheraton Court Care Home and Merlin Manor Care Home.
- Hartlepool Hospice – offers holistic end-of-life care in a peaceful, homely environment.