Referrals to Adult services

Who can refer?

Patients can be referred by any healthcare professional e.g. General Practitioners, Consultants, District Nurses, Palliative Care Teams, Social Workers or any other healthcare professional involved in their care.

Who can be referred?

Adult patients from Newcastle, North Tyneside, Northumberland and Gateshead can be referred to us.

Patients from outside these areas will be considered on an individual basis depending on their circumstances. Patients must be living with a progressive, life-limiting condition considered to be palliative (i.e. non-curative) to be referred to our services. We welcome patients early in diagnosis, as well as those who have been living with their palliative diagnosis for months/years.

Which services can patients be referred to?

Our core palliative services for adults are:

Adult Inpatient Service

• Offering 24/7 palliative and end of life care.

Day Services

Lymphoedema Service

• Lymphoedema and lipoedema management and treatment (also offered to non-palliative patients).

Focus on Living Centre

• Holistic, person-centred care via a multi-disciplinary team – includes complementary therapies, music therapy, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, medical consultations, pain and symptom management, gentle exercise classes, fatigue and breathlessness management, psychological support, social and emotional support, spiritual care, peer group support.
• Ambulatory Care (Partnership with the Northern Centre for Cancer) – for anyone with a palliative diagnosis (not just cancer) who require planned treatments, including but not limited to, blood transfusions and infusions.
• Combined Supportive Care Service (Partnership with Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust) – for people living with a palliative diagnosis of lung cancer or mesothelioma with a frailty score of 5 or above and experiencing functional disruption and ongoing symptoms impacting day-to-day life. (NOTE: Please refer to the Combined Supportive Care Service by emailing nuth.lungcanceroutpatientstherapyteam@nhs.net)

How to refer

Referrals can be made by telephone or email.

Emergency referrals onto our inpatient unit will be discussed by the Nurse-in-Charge and senior member of our medical team and a decision communicated back to the referrer within one hour.

By Telephone

For telephone referrals, please call 0191 285 0063.

Telephone referrals will normally be received by the Medical Secretaries.

By Email

• For referral to Adult Inpatients: Download our Joint Hospice referral form
• For referral to Lymphoedema: Download our Lymphoedema Service referral form
• For referral to Focus on Living and Ambulatory Care: Download our Focus on Living referral form.

Please email completed referral forms to: necne.referrals@nhs.net

For the Combined Supportive Care Service there is no referral form – please refer via email to: nuth.lungcanceroutpatientstherapyteam@nhs.net