Proud to Provide a Palliative Care Service

25.11.22

Rubislaw Park Care Home in Aberdeen is proud to now provide a Palliative Care Service in collaboration with the NHS.

The team at Rubislaw Park Care Home is working closely with colleagues in the NHS, providing a bespoke end-of-life care service within our already-established Nursing Unit.

Rubislaw Park Care Home has offered this palliative care service for a little over a year now, and due to its ongoing success, our contract has been extended for another 18 months, and the span of referral sources has been progressively widened.

Although in its infancy, this service has proven to be a valuable resource for palliative patients, and their loved ones, having received referrals from both primary and secondary health settings.

A son of one of our recent palliative care service users has commented on the effective and compassionate care received, saying:

"My mum passed away in the Nursing Unit at the very end of her palliative care. She was meant to go into a specialist NHS hospice at Roxburghe in Aberdeen but there were no beds available. So we were concerned.

How wrong we were. Mum was made to feel as comfortable as possible, she was given as much dignity as possible and the staff were out of this world. Cheery, hard-working, sensitive, nothing was ever a problem, they spoke and joked with mum right to the end.

It's also a beautiful place, inside and out and well-looked after. We were so glad Rubislaw Park was where mum spent her last 9 days. And I'm sure she would've said the same".

Currently, Rubislaw Park is the only care home involved in this pilot, and the team is proud to have played a pivotal role in the founding working group that has devised and developed this service.

Located in the West End of Aberdeen, Rubislaw Park is a well-established care home run by long-term management and provides unrivalled levels of Nursing Care, Dementia Care, Residential Care, and Respite Care by a team of trained care professionals.

Now, the nursing team at Rubislaw Park which is made up of highly-skilled and experienced nurses is working in collaboration with the local multi-disciplinary team and expert hospice clinicians to provide the very best support in end-of-life care.

External support is utilised for medical overview and our very own trained nursing team leads the management of each resident’s daily care in-house, including the administration of anticipatory medication, often via syringe pump.

Our palliative care service is open to all residents in need of end-of-life care and support, varying from natural degeneration to complex terminal pathologies. Like with all of our care services, our philosophy is to promote individualised care, tailored to each resident’s needs and wishes. We understand that no two residents’ needs are the same and we believe in celebrating our differences.

Each and every member of staff at Rubislaw Park Care Home is commited to ensuring that residents are provided with the highest standard of care, no matter what type or level of support they require. We strive to provide a nurturing, welcoming, and homely environment for all of our residents and their loved ones.

We believe that it's important to not only care for our residents but to provide support and guidance to their relatives too, as we understand the difficulties they face. Visitation is therefore unrestricted to ensure that families are enabled to share precious moments, with the comfort of having 24/7 nursing care on hand.

We have found that by alleviating this stress and allowing families to resume their roles as the resident’s loved ones, we have been able to provide a comprehensive and positive experience during a vastly emotional time.

Our palliative care service has been built around the Health and Social Care Standards and we continue to work with the local partnership and Care Inspectorate to ensure that we meet all required elements of caring for residents within our care home setting.

If you would like to find out more information about how our Palliative and End-of-life Care Services can help you and your family, then please contact the home on 01224 810030 and request to speak with Gayle Duthie (General Manager) or Rachel Stroud (Clinical Deputy Manager).