For Professionals

How to Refer to us

We accept referrals from other health and social care professionals from across Renfrewshire and North Ayrshire.  We would also consider referrals from further afield if people have a desire to be cared for in Renfrewshire.

The specialist palliative care services at St. Vincent’s Hospice are available to individuals aged 18 years and over who have complex problems associated with a life-shortening disease. These complex problems can include physical, psychosocial, emotional or spiritual distress.

Referrals are accepted from a range of health care professionals and, for selected services, from patients and/or families/carers.  The service offers multi-professional in-patient care and community-based palliative care services including Community Nurse Specialists, Day Services, Outpatient Support Clinic, Domiciliary Service and Psychological Support. We can provide advice 24 hours a day through our Consultant led medical team and our Specialist Palliative Care Practitioners.

Download Referral Form

 

We also offer an Outpatient Supportive Care Clinic

What is it?
It’s an outpatient clinic based at St. Vincent’s Hospice.

Who is it for?
Any patient with a life-limiting illness regardless of diagnosis or prognosis who might benefit from:
· Pain or Symptom Management
· Support with Advance Care Planning
· A discussion around their needs, the needs of their family, and what supportive and palliative care could offer them.

Who can refer?
Any health professional who knows the patient can refer.
How to refer: Referrals can be sent via SCI Gateway or on a hospice referral form Download Referral Form and emailed to ggc.svh@nhs.scot
For an informal discussion or any other enquiries, please phone us on 01505 705635.

What is meant by Supportive and Palliative Care?
The Supportive Care Clinic is one of many services provided by the Supportive and Palliative Care Team based at the hospice. Supportive and Palliative Care is the care of patients with life-limiting illnesses. These may include cancer, neurological conditions (e.g., Motor Neurone Disease, Parkinson’s or Dementia) and other conditions such as Chronic Lung Disease, Heart Failure, etc.
Being referred to supportive and palliative care does not imply anything about prognosis – the hospice supports some patients for many years, and some who are approaching the end of their life. Instead, we work in a person-centred way, focusing on the management of pain and other symptoms, and providing psychological, spiritual, and social care. Our aim is to achieve the best quality of life for our patients and their families.

Fiona Findlay
Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Queen Elizabeth University Hospital

Daily communication from St Vincent's has been of particular use recently when we have been able to use this information to have conversations with patients and their families, offering St Vincent’s as an option for end of life care in particular. It has had a really positive impact on the patients we see, the ward teams, and us as a team.