One of our key strategic objectives is to create a flexible model of care that shifts the balance from hospice building based care to community focussed care. Alongside this we will listen to the needs of our community and work with them to develop services that are right for them.
By enabling virtual sessions we could continue to provide vital support during the COVID pandemic.
In 2021-22 we continued to develop our community services, which consisted of two multi professional “community hospice” teams in North East and North West Edinburgh, our Hospice at Home team, and our compassionate communities team.
Our community hospice team saw a 74% increase in activity over the course of the year. Due to continued COVID restrictions the vast majority of the interactions which the community hospice team had with patients were either over the phone or virtual. We will continue to offer virtual and phone sessions, however we anticipate a move back to more face to face interactions with the easing of COVID restrictions.
Our Edinburgh Hospice at Home team was well established in 2021-22 and provided over 4,800 home visits. The capacity of the team was enhanced over the winter months by the redeployment of inpatient nursing staff to support NHS Lothian. This important team contribute to the prevention of hospital admissions and they also facilitated discharge from all inpatient settings. The team also carried out visits in order to bridge the gap before packages of social care commenced.
Part of the role of our community service is to enable people at the end of their lives to remain in their own homes. In 2021-22 some 260 people were supported in this way, an increase of over 40% as compared to the previous year and further evidence that the balance of care continues to shift towards increased community support. Importantly, this is driven by the needs and wishes of those we support.
