grateful for advice on hospital discharge planning

Hello everyone Susan here; just back in England from New Zealand; I would love any thoughts you may have; my 90 year old relative has been diagnosed with inoperable bladder cancer; but we are just awaiting the results of the biopsy and the MDT team meeting; I want to get the palliative  care team involved now before they discharge my relative but other relatives want to wait until the last minute; we have only been told verbally that it will be palliative care; I would love to get the palliative care involved asap so the relative gets the best care before being sent home from hospital; has anyone had experience of getting a referral to palliative care in England ? thank you so much Susan

  • Hello suecoach and welcome to Cancer Chat,

    I can understand you're in a difficult position. It's not an easy decision to make and will need further discussions with your family and the healthcare team, but you can view some guidance around end of life care in hospital on the NHS website, which will hopefully give you a better idea about palliative care in the UK. You can also read more about how you can get support at home.

    You are also welcome to speak to one of our cancer nurses about your relative's diagnosis, you can call our free helpline on 0808 800 4040. Lines are open 9 to 5 Monday to Friday.

    I hope this helps and that you'll be able to make a decision together as a family.

    Moderator Anastasia

  • thankyou so so much; that is top advice

  • Great advice below. My advice is that normally the hospital (or GP) will normally do a refferal to the palliative care team, there is no harm in asking then to do one. (It's always good to have a plan) They aren't just for end of life support they do a range. 

    Hopefully once you have the biopsy back, they will form a plan with you, link with a GP though as they can be great at getting pain management under control and link with district nurses etc. I hope she isn't in too much pain.