Functioning of the hospice at home

Functioning of the hospice at home programme before the palliative care unit was set up Since inception, the home programme was supported by the Surgical Department at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. All the home care patients were registered at Queen Elizabeth Hospital to provide backup and admission facility. The programme started with three to four patients, but the numbers grew rapidly, and a second nurse was appointed to help out.When they were discharged from the hospital, patients with advanced, incurable cancers who lived in and around Kota Kinabalu were referred to the programme. The nurse coordinator visited the patient at home for the initial assessment. The primary caregiver at home was trained to care for the patient, administer medication, etc. Three categories of volunteers were involved in the care of the patients at home.Volunteer doctors made home visits with the nurse coordinator whenever she needed a doctor’s opinion. Volunteer nurses helped the nurse coordinator and often covered for her during weekends. Lay volunteers provided companionship for patients, gave respite to caregivers, helped with bathing, gave hair cuts and massages, and became friends with the patient, primary caregiver and family. Lay volunteers reported to the nurse coordinator and never interfered with medical management. Volunteers were matched with patients taking into consideration the patient’s religion, race, language and the logistics.