And in that time, the charity’s nurses have made over 30,000 visits and provided over 80,000 out of hours care to patients in the area.
People living with palliative conditions such as cancer, MND, end stage heart or lung disease, frailty or dementia may need assistance at any time.
As such, Rapid Response was established to meet the needs of local residents from the hours of 9 pm until 7 am each day, with nurses on hand to administer medication, help with pain and symptom management, and offer emotional support to patients and their families.
It means that in non-emergency situations, people don’t have to call for an ambulance or visit a hospital, the Rapid Response nurses can be with them in as little as ten minutes, depending on location and patient case load.
Samantha Creighton is part of the Marie Curie Rapid Response Service in Dumfries and Galloway. She said: “The RRS team are dedicated to supporting patients, families, carers and care homes by providing advice, support, symptom management, personal care, as well as emotional and bereavement support as we guide people thought their end of life journeys.
“Our patients are at the heart of what we do and our team collaborates and works cohesively with NHS services, such as out of hours services, district nurse teams, Macmillan nurses and Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary wards to promote a patient centred pathway that is tailored to each individual patient’s needs.”
Praising them, Annie Dickie, from Annan, who looked after her husband Jim who was living with a range of conditions that needed to be managed full-time, said she relied on out-of-hours care.
She said: “There have been many times I called the Marie Curie Rapid Response team. It was for things that were not viewed as an emergency, so I couldn’t dial 999, such as Jim’s catheter becoming blocked or he wanted out of bed and I couldn’t get him back in. Waiting until morning to get support wasn’t an option.”
