Who we are

We are a skilled team of specialist nursing care professionals, healthcare assistants, pharmacy technicians, phlebotomists (who take blood) and health and social care co-ordinators.

What we do

We provide nursing care for housebound patients (people who cannot leave their home), aged 18 and older, in the community, seven days-a-week. We deliver care to people with complex and long-term conditions, as well as supporting and giving advice to families and carers, working closely with other healthcare professionals, social services and voluntary agencies.

We:

• provide nursing care following discharge from hospital
• support end-of-life care patients in their homes, with help for their relatives and carers
• provide wound care management
• administer injectable medicines, such as insulin, where a patient (or their carer) is not able to do this themselves
• help people manage their long-term conditions, such as diabetes, heart conditions, respiratory conditions
• provide at-home testing, such as blood samples
• provide bladder and bowel care
• deliver continence assessments and reviews.

Referrals into our service are assessed based on clinical need and whether a patient is housebound and unable to leave home to receive this care elsewhere. If you are able to leave home, your care will transfer to your GP surgery.

At your first visit, a nurse will assess your health and wellbeing needs. This will determine how often we need to see you. Our daytime visits take place between 8am and 6pm, but we are unable to promise appointment times. Please make sure you are available on the days we confirm we are coming to see you. Occasionally we may have to change a confirmed appointment at short notice if another patient has more urgent need for our care.

Out-of-hours nursing visits

Urgent care can be reached for housebound patients outside normal office hours. Please call NHS 111.

Wound medicine centres

Our colleagues also provide care in the wound medicine centres in east Kent. These clinics are for patients with wounds that are difficult or taking a long time to heal. A referral can be made by your community nurse for an appointment at the centre. We support our housebound patients with transport to attend the centre from the Patient Transport Service.

End-of-life and palliative care

We work with your GP and hospices to support you, your family and carers during the end of your life. Our role is to make sure you have access to the nursing care you need. This could include providing essential equipment for your comfort, giving advice on pain relief, administering medication and involving other specialists in your care.

We have more information available for patients receiving end-of-life care. Please speak to your nurse to find out more.

While we are in your home

For everyone’s health and safety, please make sure any pets are secured before a member of the team visits. We also ask you to make sure no one is smoking in the room where care is being delivered.

Your experience: Comments, compliments and complaints

The Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) welcomes and values your feedback as it helps us continuously improve the quality of service we provide. You should be treated with courtesy and respect at all times by NHS staff and making a comment or complaint about NHS services will not impact the quality of care you or your relatives are given. To get in touch, please contact us using the details at the end of this leaflet.

Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust holds events to listen to and collect the views of people who are using our services or have in the past. This can include caring for somebody who has received care from us. If you would like to find out more, please email kentchft.engagement@nhs.net.

We care: Please treat us with respect

We work for the NHS because we want to care for you. We will always treat you with respect, kindness and compassion. If we ever fail to do so, please let us know by contacting our service or PALS.

Your safety and the safety of our colleagues is our top priority. If colleagues are subjected to abusive or violent behaviour, we can refuse treatment and take further action.