Willow House Palliative Care

About our service

Willow House is a peaceful and caring space at West Heath Hospital. Our 18-bed unit includes three bays with four beds each and six private ensuite rooms, designed for comfort and privacy.

Our vision is to provide exceptional palliative and end of life care with dignity, respect, and compassion for you and your loved ones. We focus on your comfort and individual needs, creating personalised care plans with our dedicated team of Nurses, Healthcare assistants, and support staff.

With 24-hour nursing care and a warm, safe environment, we’re here to support you and your family every step of the way. At Willow House, you’re in caring hands.

Willow House is supported by a Doctor from Monday to Friday 09:00 - 17:00, with cover also provided from the main West Heath Hospital site until midnight. Our Consultant attends throughout the week, and a full ward round followed by a Multidisciplinary Team Meeting (MDT) takes place every Thursday.

 

Who is it for?

• Patients aged 18 or over with a palliative care diagnosis where the focus of care is on quality of life.
• Patients with palliative care needs that are unable to be managed in the patient’s usual residence e.g. symptom management - with the aim of supporting people to return home in line with their wishes.
• End of life care - for people who are in the advanced stages of illness, are deteriorating and likely to be in the last weeks/days of life and do not wish to die at home or care at home is no longer possible e.g. now require 24-hour care in an inpatient setting

 

What are the visiting hours? 

Visitors are very welcome here at Willow House. We want friends and family to feel relaxed and cared for too, so we have open visiting hours, and family members are able to stay overnight if requested.

 

Laundry

We are not able to wash personal items of clothing.  It is important that relatives/friends check regularly for washing as this will have to be taken to be washed.  Any soiled washing will be placed in red (Alginate) bags that can be placed straight into a washing machine and will dissolve during the washing cycle. If there is a problem with washing personal items, please speak to the Nurse in Charge.

 

Getting ready to leave Willow House

Patients may be admitted for end-of-life care, stabilise and no longer require the specialist support Willow House provides. In these cases, patients and their loved ones will be supported to ensure they are discharged to a suitable place of care, or home. It may be that discharge to a suitable placement is required, which we will facilitate following discussion with the patient/their family.

Hospital Discharge Patient Leaflet