Leicester City legend and LOROS Patron, Alan Birchenall, will be visiting LOROS on 13 March at 11am to meet with patients and staff of the new Palliative Day Therapy service.
LOROS has recently undertaken a comprehensive redesign of its existing day care service believing that an enhanced day therapy service should be provided to a larger number of people and be more readily accessible across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland to ensure ‘care closer to home’.
This free service supports anybody 18 years and over, that is living with a terminal illness in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland and can be accessed via referral from a GP or any health, or social care professional.
In conjunction with external stakeholders - Loughborough Hospital, University Hospitals of Leicester and Macmillan Cancer Support - the new model of Palliative Day Therapy will be piloted during the next 12 months, with a ‘hub’ at the Groby Road Hospice site in Leicester and a ‘spoke’ at Loughborough Hospital, in order to test the model of Day Therapy for the future. If successful, it is hoped the service will be rolled out to more locations, taking specialist care out to local communities.
Jo Kavanagh, LOROS Director of Care Services said: “This exciting new day therapy service has been developed to improve quality of life for patients with an incurable illness. We are now able to offer a wide range of clinical and support services and are really pleased to see that the new service is already supporting patients and their families from across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. In some cases it has enabled families and carers to have a break from providing care, knowing that their loved one is being well looked after by the staff and volunteers at LOROS.”
Wayne Hill, a day therapy patient said: “I really enjoy coming to LOROS, it’s relaxed and restful. I enjoy being able to socialise with others and appreciate the great care I receive. Having access to complementary therapy is wonderful and gives me an incredible feeling of well being”.
On his impending visit, Alan Birchenall added: “I’m very much looking forward to meeting patients and staff of this wonderful new service. LOROS do a fantastic job and this new service adds to the support given to the terminally-ill. If I can make a difference to help patients and families at such a difficult time then I feel privileged to do so.”
