Referral - Healthcare Professionals

Please refer to the information below before completing the appropriate online referral form. These are: clinical, adult bereavement, child pre-bereavement/seriously ill, child bereavement.

If you have questions relating to clinical referrals at Farleigh Hospice please contact our Advice Line by calling 01245 455478 between 8am and 8pm.

If your enquiry is regarding adult bereavement services please call 01245 457308 (Circle), or 01245 457416 (Yo-Yo Project) if your enquiry is regarding our bereavement/pre-bereavement service for children and young people, during office hours 9am-5pm.

People living with life-limiting illness

Individuals must fall into one or more of the categories below:

• Advanced, and/or progressive, incurable conditions.
• General frailty and co-existing conditions who are rapidly deteriorating and reaching the end stage of their condition.
• Rapid access to end of life care (personal care) in last three months of life.
• Existing conditions if they are at risk of dying from a sudden acute crisis in their condition.
• Life-threatening acute conditions caused by sudden catastrophic events.

They will also:

• Be aged 18 and over (in exceptional circumstances referral can be accepted for 16 to 18-year olds with prior agreement with appropriate nursing and medical staff).
• Live in mid Essex and/or are registered with a mid Essex GP.
• Referrals may be considered from outside the mid Essex area in certain circumstances e.g. if the patient is out of area but the carer lives in mid Essex.
• Provide consent for access/referral to Farleigh Hospice services.

Examples of reasons for referral to Farleigh are:

• Difficulty in managing pain and symptom control.
• Patients and family having difficulty in coping with the progressive illness and its consequences.
• Need for palliative rehabilitation.
• Complex spiritual issues due to the impact of the illness on spirituality.

All patients referred will be triaged and contacted by the relevant Farleigh professional. For admission to the inpatient unit (IPU), a separate referral process exists.

The hospice does not have any designated long-term care beds.

Adult bereavement service

The service will accept referrals as follows:

• Bereavement support offered to Next of Kin or main carer of Farleigh patients.
• Other family members/carers/friends of Farleigh patients on request, via IPU, community teams or direct to the service.
• Any adult 18 or over who has experienced a significant bereavement and it is impacting upon their ability to manage their life.
• Must be registered with a GP in the mid Essex area covered by Farleigh Hospice*.
• Referrals generally not accepted until at least four weeks after a bereavement.

*There are some limited exceptions to this - please contact the service for further information.

Child and young person bereavement service

The Yo-Yo Project supports bereaved children and young people between the ages of 4 and 18. Referrals can only be made with the appropriate consent.

The service will accept referrals for:

• Children and young people connected with Farleigh patients.
• Children and young people with no connection with Farleigh services, registered with a GP in the mid Essex area covered by Farleigh Hospice.
• Children and young people aged 4 to 18-years old, with consent of parent/carer and child/young person.
• Can be referred for support/counselling from the Yo-Yo Project, who are:
  • Facing the loss (death) of someone significant.
  • Bereaved of someone significant (referrals generally not accepted until at least six weeks after bereavement).

Yo-Yo Referral Criteria in more detail.