Home hospice - what is it about? It is help in taking care of terminally ill patients in their own home. Who can use a home hospice, how much does a home hospice cost and what is care in a home hospice?

Contents:

  1. Home hospice: for whom?
  2. Home hospice: referral
  3. Home hospice: how to arrange it?
  4. Home hospice: how much does it cost?
  5. Home hospice: who looks after the patient?
  6. Home hospice: guaranteed benefits
  7. Home hospice: how often the patient is visited by the doctor?

Home hospice is sometimes equated with home palliative care. It's not quite the same, however.

Hospice care is comprehensive care for a seriously ill person as well as for their relatives - apart from medical, nursing and psychological care, it also often offers support for volunteers in everyday activities that cause problems (e.g. shopping), and home hospices are run through church centers also provide help on the spiritual and existential level.

Palliative care is aimed primarily at alleviating the suffering and pain associated with the disease.

Home hospice: for whom?

Who can benefit from home hospice care? The regulations in this respect are laconic and say that it is a benefit for people "suffering from incurable, untreatable, progressive, life-limiting diseases".

In practice, home hospice is most often used by patients (especially terminally) with cancer, HIV, respiratory failure, cardiomyopathy or primary systemic atrophy affecting the central nervous system.

Home hospice: referral

In order for terminally ill patients to be cared for by a home hospice, they must have a referral to a hospice, which can be issued by both a family doctor and a specialist - for example an oncologist. A referral form can usually be downloaded directly from the home hospice website or obtained from a home hospice.

In addition to the doctor's stamp, it must also include the name of the facility that has signed a contract with the National He alth Fund, the disease code (in accordance with the list of diseases, the so-called ICD-10 number, i.e. the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and He alth Problems,a few letters and numbers allow you to identify the disease) and a statement on the end of causal treatment.

Home hospice: how to arrange it?

Apart from the referral, the patient who is to be covered by hospice care must also have an ID card and consent to be covered by hospice care (in justified cases, such consent is given by the patient's guardian). The current medical documentation is also necessary - available for inspection by the doctor -: diagnosis, results of the latest tests, hospital treatment information card.

Only after collecting all these documents can the patient be referred to the home hospice. It's very simple: just send a referral to a home hospice care provider. The first visit of the doctor usually takes place quite quickly - sometimes even on the same day, or over the next several days, of course after agreeing the date with the patient or his relatives.

Home hospice: how much does it cost?

Home hospice care is free, if the patient has insurance, and the facility - a contract with the National He alth Fund.

The patient in care bears only the costs of medicines and some medical devices (e.g. diapers, if wearing them is necessary). You can also borrow medical equipment recommended by a home hospice doctor free of charge:

  • oxygen concentrator or other available oxygen source;
  • inhaler;
  • electric suction;
  • blood pressure monitor;
  • glucometer;
  • infusion pump;
  • walker, walker, crutches, wheelchair.

Home hospice: who looks after the patient?

The home hospice staff includes a specialist in the field of palliative medicine (or a doctor in the course of specialization in palliative medicine), as well as a nurse who has completed a specialization or qualification course in palliative care nursing (or is in the process of this specialization).

There is also a psycho-oncologist or psychologist specializing in clinical psychology, as well as a physical therapist or motor rehabilitator. Apart from them, the sick person can also be visited by other team members: volunteers, social workers and, upon request, also a priest.

Home hospice: guaranteed benefits

Every patient covered by home hospice care has the right to certain medical services (regulated by paragraph 3 of part II of Annex 2 to the Regulation of the Minister of He alth of October 29, 2013 on guaranteed palliative care and palliative care services).hospice). According to them, the patient has the right to:

  • he althcare provided by a doctor and a nurse;
  • pain treatment in accordance with WHO (World He alth Organization) guidelines;
  • treatment of other somatic symptoms;
  • psychological care (which, apart from the patient, also covers his family);
  • rehabilitation;
  • complications prevention;
  • tests, prescribing drugs, free rental of the necessary equipment.

Home hospice: how often the patient is visited by the doctor?

Theoretically, a person under the care of a home hospice has access to he alth care services provided seven days a week, 24 hours a day. This means that, if necessary, a doctor or a nurse can be called at any time and on any day - the hospice staff should inform the patient about such a possibility, as well as provide a contact telephone number to people who will come on call and provide help if necessary.

It is also worth knowing that, according to the regulations, home visits by a hospice doctor should be regular and should take place at least twice a month, while nursing visits, depending on the patient's needs, not less than twice a week. Other members of the medical staff - a psychologist, physiotherapist, and physical therapist - visit the patient only when the doctor deems it necessary and sets an appointment for such a visit.

Each visit of the hospice staff takes place after agreeing - with the patient or his guardian - the date, it is also recorded in the "Visit Card at the Patient's Home" (the patient or his guardian must confirm with his / her signature the fact that took place). In certain situations - for example, when the pain worsens or other care problems arise - the doctor or nurse of the home hospice may suggest that the patient be admitted to a palliative medicine unit.

Category:

Geriatrics