Doctors & Consultants

The Medical Team is lead by Dr Alice Jordan who is a Consultant in Palliative Medicine. She is employed by North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust and works four sessions per week in the Hospice. She is also based with the Hartlepool Community Specialist Palliative Care Team for two sessions a week.

Dr Jordon is supported by a Staff Grade Doctor and Junior Doctor who have a passion to provide care to palliative patients and their families.

The Hospice medical team is also made up of junior medical staff with a full-time Foundation Year 2 Doctor rotating on a four monthly basis. These doctors are in their second year of medical training after qualification. They are employed by North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust and are supervised by Dr Jordan.

There also may be a Specialist Registrar in Palliative Medicine based at the Hospice. These are doctors on a four year training course to become a Consultant in Palliative Medicine and will have been working as doctors for at least four years. They are also supervised by Dr Jordan.

The on call medical team provide care and support to patients outside of normal working hours. The on call team is made up of the Hospice staff grades and a rota of other medical professionals who have a special interest and knowledge in palliative care including GP’s and Foundation Doctors.

The members of the Medical Team can be identified by their ID badges and would normally be carrying a stethoscope.

Nurse Practitioner

A Nurse Practitioner is an advanced Practice Registered Nurse who has completed clinical skills training and is a Nurse Prescriber. A Nurse Practitioner works alongside the Medical Team to assess patients’ needs and to support and complement patient care. Education and training of other staff members is a vital part of this role.

Nurse Practitioners works on a shift pattern to support the Clinical Team and wears a navy blue uniform with a red trim.

Clinical Lead

The Clinical Lead, managers the Inpatient Unit co-ordinates the running of all 11 Hospice beds across two units and this includes managing patient care and the nursing staffing. The Clinical Lead’s role is to ensure the smooth running of the all patient services, supporting the Clinical Team and dealing with issues that may arise daily.

This member of the team works on a shift pattern and wears a navy blue uniform trimmed with navy.

Junior Sister

The Junior Sister support the Clinical Lead and the clinical nursing team. They will act up in the absence of the Clinical Lead and coordinate patient services.

These members of the team work on shift patterns and wear a navy blue uniform trimmed with white.

Registered Nurse

Registered Nurses have completed their nurse training. They provide 24 hour nursing care and support to patients and their families. They are required to take a caseload of patients each shift and ensure that their individual care needs are met by adopting a holistic approach to each patients care. The Registered Nurse is a key member of the Multidisciplinary team as they are constantly planning, assessing and evaluating patient care to ensure the best outcome for the patient.

They support patient care through the use of care plans, carry out care procedures and assessments and focus on the needs of the patient alongside the illness and symptoms displayed. They support and assess the needs of family and friends by interacting closely with them to ensure these are met.

They wear royal blue uniform with a white trim and can be identified by their ID badges.

Specialist Nurse

Specialist Nurse Education & Standards
We take education very seriously and we are very mindful of ensuring our staff have all of the skills necessary to provide excellent care. Our Specialist Nurse for Education will be working both internally and externally to ensure that palliative care education is of a high standard wherever patients are cared for. This includes joint projects with other providers such as the acute trust to educate care home staff in caring for the dying patient. Our Specialist Nurse Education & Standrads will ensure our clinical standards are as high as they can be and that our staff, regardless of where they are providing care, do so in an educated way.

They wear royal blue uniform with a yellow trim and can be identified by their ID badges.

Senior Healthcare Assistant

The Senior Healthcare Assistant role provides additional support for the Registered Nurse. These professionals have additional responsibilities and skills which complement the Registered Nurse to providing essential nursing care to the patients and providing guidance and support for Healthcare Assistants.

Healthcare Assistant

Health Care Assistants play a vital role in the care of patients. Working alongside the Senior Healthcare professionals, they take care of the day-to-day basic needs of patients by providing a very hands-on role. They assist with the majority of a patient’s personal care and support with activities such as intake of food and drink, mobility and other important daily functions and they are a support to the patient and their families. They also ensure that the patient areas remain tidy, carry out a range of housekeeping duties, as well as performing basic observations, such as taking a patient’s temperature, pulse and respiration rate.

They can be identified by a purple uniform with a white trim.

Volunteer

Volunteers play a vital role in a patient’s care too. They assist the patient, their family and the clinical staff in many ways. They support the patient and their family by offering an empathic ear and a cup of tea. Volunteers support the Clinical Team by answering the telephone, delivering and collecting drug orders from pharmacy and generally keeping the patient care area tidy and clean, saving the clinical staff vital time.
We have a huge range of roles for our clinical volunteers and our patients enjoy both their company and entertainment, including dancing, gardening, craft making and games.

They provide this service in their own time and can be identified by their purple tabards.

Domestic Team

The Domestic Team work extremely hard to ensure that the maximum level of cleanliness is maintained at all times throughout the Hospice. Patients staying at the Hospice are sometimes more susceptible to infections, so infection prevention and cleanliness are the highest priority for the Team.

Upon joining, each new employee undergoes a rigorous training programme which includes health and safety, hygiene and infection control, food preparation and patient care.

The use of colour coding helps prevent cross-contamination and improve hygiene by clearly and simply identifying to the domestic the particular product (mop, bucket, duster, etc.) that should be used in any given situation.

• RED – Washrooms & Toilets
• YELLOW – IPU
• GREEN – General, low risk basic cleaning
• BLUE – Satellite kitchens and main kitchen

The Domestic Team are proud of the role they play in ensuring that everyone feels safe when staying at the Hospice and although most cleaning is carried out by the Team, every person within the organisation plays a part in cleanliness and the reduction of infection.

The Domestic Team can be recognised by their pale green top/dress and blue trousers

Catering Team

The Hospice prides itself on providing a catering service for patients where fresh ingredients are used and every meal is “home cooked” on the premises. Wherever possible fresh produce is sourced locally with daily deliveries of fruit, vegetables, fish and meat.

The Catering Team can be recognised by their uniform of white top, blue/blue checked trousers and white trilby/blue skull cap hats.

Complementary Therapist

Our Complementary Therapist adopts a holistic approach and take into account the physical, emotional and spiritual factors for each person’s unique life history and present situation.
A Therapist’s aim is to reduce anxiety, stress and pain through relaxation and also have a flexible approach to meet the needs of the person.
A Complementary Therapist may ask many questions about lifestyle, diet, exercise, likes and dislikes building up a picture to enable the Therapist to treat the person. It is also a Therapist’s role to work with the information from a client to encourage the recipient to take responsibility to improve their health, own well-being and quality of life.

The Therapist wears a dark purple top with silver buttons.

Occupational Therapist

The Occupational Therapist (OT) works as part of the Multi-Disciplinary Team, working closely with other professionals both in the Hospice, hospital and community. They are employed by North Tees & Hartlepool NHS Trust and provide services as and when the Hospice requires which allows great flexibility to meet our patient’s needs.

Occupational Therapists are skilled professionals who find solutions to everyday problems, for example advice on approaching a task differently, using equipment or assistive technology, adapting your living or working environment and finding strategies to reach your chosen goals.

In Occupational Therapy, “occupations” refer to the everyday activities that people do as individuals, in families and with communities to occupy time and bring meaning and purpose to life and includes things people need to, want to and are expected to do. At the Hospice the OT will focus on your ability to carry out the everyday tasks which are important and relevant to your health and well-being.

OT promotes the “doing and being” rather than the “being done to” which can help restore a sense of purpose, confidence and accomplishment.

The OT is available to see patients Monday to Friday and can be recognised by their uniform of green trousers and a white tunic with green trim.

Physiotherapist

The Physiotherapist works as part of the Multi-Disciplinary Team, working closely with other professionals both in the Hospice, hospital and community. They are employed by North Tees & Hartlepool NHS Trust and provide services as and when the Hospice requires which allows great flexibility to meet our patient’s needs.

Physiotherapist provide Hospice patients with mobility support and techniques as well as chest physio when needed. They assess, plan and evaluate the needs of the patients to
Physiotherapists consider the body as a whole, rather than just focusing on the individual aspects of an injury or illness.
Some of the main approaches used by physiotherapists include:

• education and advice – physiotherapists can give general advice about things that can affect your daily lives, such as posture and correct lifting or carrying techniques to help prevent injuries
• movement, tailored exercise and physical activity advice – exercises may be recommended to improve your general health and mobility and to strengthen specific parts of your body
• manual therapy – where the physiotherapist uses their hands to help relieve pain and stiffness, and to encourage better movement of the body