Specialist Palliative Care Clinical Psychology Service

About the service

The Specialist Palliative Care Clinical Psychology Service provides psychological support to people with a life-limiting illness, as well as providing specialist support to carers, partners and other family members affected by a person’s illness. The service also provides specialist support to people experiencing complex bereavement reactions.

If you would like support from this service then please talk to your GP who can then make a referral to our service if they feel this would be appropriate.

The Service is also available to provide consultancy and teaching on psychological aspects of end of life care to other health professionals

What we do

We provide a number of different services, including:

• assessments and effective evidence-based psychotherapeutic treatments to individuals with a life limiting disease
• providing support and treatment to carers, couples, and the families of people with a life-limiting illness, who present as acutely distressed and struggling to cope with the illness of their relative/partner.
• support and treatment for individuals experiencing complex and/or prolonged bereavement   
• bespoke education to other professionals, including MDT colleagues and community health professionals (including GPs, nursing homes and community nurses), on psychological aspects of Specialist Palliative Care and advanced communication
• Conducts and supervises research and audit

Accessing the service

The service accepts referrals from any member of the Specialist Palliative Care Team, as well as healthcare professionals working within The Rowans Hospice and health professionals working in the service’s community catchment area, including GPs, DNs and AHPs.

Referral forms are available on request from the psychology team via: 02392 238548

You should consider making a referral when:

• The identified individual has demonstrated persistent acute emotional distress and/or is presenting with challenging 'out of character' behaviours. The distress/behaviour continues over a period of time and seems to relate to adjustment to their illness.
• The identified individual is demonstrating signs of depression and/or anxiety that are significantly reducing their quality of life, coping, and/or daily functioning 
• The identified individual is expressing suicidal thoughts and feelings 
• The identified individual is expressing unrealistic ideas (in comparison to expected treatment outcome), which are adversely impacting upon treatments, advanced care planning or relationships 
• The identified individual appears to have significant communication difficulties with their family or significant others, such that this impacts their quality of life and/or they are impeded in their adjustment to their illness 
• The identified individual is at risk of a complex bereavement reaction as a result of a number of factors including: previous mental health problems, poor social support/social isolation, poor communication skills, a known history of poor adjustment to loss, a number of concurrent life stresses 
• The identified individual is presenting with characteristics of a complex or prolonged bereavement reaction

Please feel free to call us to discuss any potential referral. Referral forms are available on request. We are happy to receive letters from GPs in place of a completed referral form.