Choice Case Studies Database

Mr “F”, 90, has end-stage heart failure, and is cared for at his home in Spalding, Lincolnshire, by his wife.

Mr “F” has had several visits from the Marie Curie Delivering Choice Programme’s Rapid Response Team, and his wife has also received support over the phone on occasion. The Palliative Care Co-ordination Centre, another service set up by the programme, has coordinated home care for the patient from St Barnabas Hospice at Home, including respite care and support visits.

All of this care is keeping Mr “F” at home where he wants to be. Mrs “F” said:

“My husband was facing some difficulties in the early hours of the morning, and if the Rapid Response Team hadn’t come we would have had a disaster on our hands. They sorted it out within minutes, and my husband and I were able to get some much-needed sleep. It meant the world to us.

“My husband wants to stay at home and be cared for by me. It’s wonderful to know that someone is there at the end of the phone if you need them in the early hours of the morning. Sometimes he will need medical attention but I know it’s not urgent enough to call 999 – however if the Rapid Response Team wasn’t there to call on then I wouldn’t have any choice.

“One day I was feeling a little down, and a nurse from the Rapid Response Team rang me just to check I was doing okay. It meant the world to me, to know that someone was there and understood how I felt.

“The Palliative Care Co-ordination Centre also coordinates nursing care from the St Barnabas Hospice at Home team, who are very caring and keep in contact with us to make sure we’re both well.”