St Wilfrid’s Hospice is fortunate to have an enthusiastic team of Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS leaflet) who work in the community. This team works as part of the Primary Health Care Team, which includes your GP, community nurses, Social Services and other care providers in the community.
The CNS team consists of nine qualified nurses who have undergone further professional training to help understand the difficulties patients and their families may be experiencing and how best to help them. The aim of the CNS is to work together with other primary health care teams to facilitate access to all the services patients and their families may require and to ensure that the best care possible is received.
The role of the CNS is varied and can at times prove to be quite a challenge. However, primarily their role is to offer support and advice to the patient, their family and friends throughout their illness.The CNS assesses patients according to their needs. This can be as an outpatient in a clinic at the hospice, their own home, residential or nursing home.
The CNS team are encouraged to further develop their skills, enabling them to widen their knowledge base, thus improving their resource to other professionals and support to patients and families in the community.
Recognising that everyone is an individual, the team holds great respect for each other and for the community as a whole, enabling them to deliver a high standard of care.
