‘Kershaw’s Caring Hands’ to pilot a home care service
Date published: 05 December 2017
Joanne Sloan, Deputy Chief Executive at Dr Kershaw’s
Following the expansion of the Dr Kershaw’s ‘Hospice at Home’ scheme, the Royton-based team is to pilot a home care service.
‘Kershaw’s Caring Hands’ is looking to extend the highest standards of care into the community and has received funding to launch the scheme in the New Year.
Lindsey Harper, lead nurse for community services, said: “Hospice At Home has highlighted a shortfall in capacity and variable quality in social care provision for highly dependent patients approaching the end of their lives which we believe we can address.”
The service will be provided for patients registered with an Oldham GP who are referred on a fast-track basis from Pennine Acute Hospital Trust, their own GP, or Community Nursing Services, who require support with basic personal care in the last few weeks of life.
Ms Harper added: “The Hospice has fostered an excellent reputation locally and we believe we will improve patient experience and quickly become the home care service of choice.”
The Turf Lane hospice is now looking to recruit a Home Care coordinator and a bank of Community Health Care Assistants.
To assist with this, the Hospice team is to hold an open day between 1.00pm and 3.00pm on Saturday, 9 December, at Dr Kershaw’s where those interested can call in for a coffee and a chat and get more information.
Joanne Sloan, Deputy Chief Executive at Dr Kershaw’s, said: “The Hospice will recruit suitable staff to provide the highest standards of individual care and our hospice’s not-for-profit setup will ensure that all the funds received are invested in high-quality staff.
“Recruited staff will receive a programme of training, incorporating all core mandatory training and a certificate of care, to ensure our staff are trained to a high standard to provide excellent quality of care for patients.”
She added that staff would then be partnered with more experienced Hospice staff on home visits to further support standards of care and safety.
More details about the posts being offered are available at
