Local charities and the NHS in Great Yarmouth and Waveney are teaming up to launch services in the new £1.5 million Louise Hamilton Centre in Gorleston.
The centre, believed to be the first of its kind in East Anglia, will provide supportive and palliative care for patients and families whose lives are affected by a life-limiting or progressive illness. Located in the grounds of the James Paget University Hospital the new centre, funded by the Palliative Care East appeal, will open in January 2013.
Some patients and their families live with an illness and its effects for many years and need emotional and practical support. For illnesses where a cure is not possible the focus is on quality of life to help them come to terms with the situation and to live their lives as fully as possible.
The Louise Hamilton Centre will provide specialist palliative care services, advice and support including welfare and money matters, therapy groups, a variety of information about health conditions, support for carers and will also offer complementary and relaxation therapies.
The centre will also act as the hub for a network of supportive and palliative care services across Great Yarmouth and Waveney and will help signpost people towards community-based services, including the new Big C centre in Great Yarmouth.
Dr Bernadette Auger, consultant in palliative care at the James Paget, said: “The Louise Hamilton Centre gives us a fantastic environment to meet patients, talk with families, and to help us support their physical and emotional needs. The centre is part of our vision for enhancing existing palliative care services in Great Yarmouth and Waveney.”
Maggie Parsons, Cancer and End Of Life Programme Manager at HealthEast, said: “Commissioning this new service was one of the priorities identified by local stakeholders from the Marie Curie Delivering Choice programme. It is a really positive step towards truly integrated palliative care across Great Yarmouth and Waveney. As well as providing a wide range of supportive services a key aspect will also be signposting patients and their carers to other existing services across all local care settings, to ensure that patients and carers receive the care and support they need.”
Jane Petit, chief executive of St Elizabeth Hospice, said: "St Elizabeth Hospice is investing £2.2 million over a three-year period into the Great Yarmouth and Waveney area to provide hospice services for local people. Our vision is to provide care close to people's homes, through partnership working, recruiting local staff and avoiding duplication of services and our involvement in the Louise Hamilton Centre helps us move this forward."
The services will be supported by a wide variety of partners in the Louise Hamilton Centre, including:
• Alzheimer’s Society
• Big C
• British Heart Foundation
• Crossroads Care Services
• Cruse Bereavement Support
• East Coast Community Healthcare
• Great Yarmouth and Waveney Specialist Palliative Care Team
• James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• Macmillan Cancer Support
• Marie Curie Cancer Care
• Neurological condition charities
• NHS Great Yarmouth and Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group
• Norfolk County Council
• Norfolk Family Carers
• St. Elizabeth Hospice
• Suffolk Family Carers
