The palliative care team, based in the Royal Free Hospital, provides a specialist palliative care service to all sites of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust and the community of North Camden seven days a week. Specialist palliative care concentrates on quality of life issues for patients, and their families, with advanced, progressive illness (both cancer and non-cancer) and provide expert guidance on end of life care.The team has specialist skills in pain and symptom management and provides supportive care on complex social, emotional and spiritual matters at the end of life. The team also sees patients at an earlier stage where there are persistent, complex symptom control issues.
The palliative care team is a multidisciplinary, nurse led service, the team leader being a nurse consultant. Other staff members include; two medical consultants, a lead nurse for community care, six clinical nurse specialists, two specialist sisters, specialist registrar, team administrator. The team works closely with all health care professionals involved in patient care. GPs or hospital consultants remain responsible for clinical care and any suggested changes will be fully discussed with them. The team also has access to specialist social workers, occupational and physiotherapists and rehabilitation assistants based in the community.
The palliative care team run a number of out patient services: a consultant out-patient clinic every Thursday afternoon, for patients with specialist palliative care needs or symptom control problems, particularly pain requiring management with strong painkillers; a joint palliative /renal clinic for patients with advanced renal disease; a palliative care clinic within the Ian Chaleston Day Centre.
Patient information
A
patient information leaflet 
describing the service is available.
Location
The palliative care team is located on 8 South on the Royal Free Hospital site, Pond Street, Hampstead.
Making an appointment
Referrals to the palliative care team for community or in-patient advice can be made by any health care professional with the agreement of the doctor responsible for the patient’s care.
Out-patient appointments can be made following a referral from a GP, and may be made through the choose and book system. Tertiary referrals are also available.
Contact
The team can be contacted and referrals can be telephoned directly to 020 7794 0500 ext 33861 or 020 7830 2905 Monday to Friday 9am–5pm or faxed to 020 7830 2045. At weekends and on bank holidays the team can be contacted for urgent advice or assistance via the hospital switchboard 020 7794 0500 and ask them to air-call the palliative care team.
See also
Directory of consultants