At home care in Lewisham

Hi Carrots my name is Vicky and I’m a Support Advisor here at Macmillan. I’m so very sorry to hear about your friend’s husband, it must be a great comfort to have a friend like you to help them through this unimaginably difficult time.

With regards to getting care at home here are a several things that you could look into however as time may be of the essence it may be best for them to start by getting in touch with their GP or cancer team to see what can be put in place, it may be that a palliative care team is being prepared already or if not, then they can hopefully help to get this arranged. Your friend’s husband may even have been given a small green card with our number on one side and an assigned Macmillan Nurse or key worker’s number on the other, if he has then they could contact them to see if anything is being put in place or about getting some additional help and support.

If nothing is in process yet they can ask for a palliative/Macmillan Nurse to be assigned through a referral from one of your friend’s husbands health care team such as his GP or consultant/cancer team.

Do you know if they’ve been in touch with Adult Social Care about getting some carers in to help them? They would carry out a needs assessment to see the type of support they will need, such as carers and equipment. You can find out their contact details through the local council or again, speak to her GP, it may be that they could make a referral to help speed the process up?

Also Carrots, I’m not sure if you are aware but we have Cancer Nurses on our support lines it might be good for you to have a chat with them about the care your friends may need and how best to help them, our support line number 0808 808 00 00 and is open from 8am to 8pm every day, or if you prefer, you can chat to them online, just sign into the chat on the main website and select ‘Question for a Nurse’.

Finally, I also just wanted to ask about your friend Carrots, how is she coping? Does she have a good support network of family and friends around to help her through what must be an incredibly difficult time both emotionally and physically? Please let her know that the Macmillan Support Line is here for her, and for you too Carrots, as a place you all can contact privately and confidentially to talk through how you’re feeling and access emotional support, we are here every day of the week from 8 am - 8 pm on 0808 808 0000 or via web chat so please get in touch whenever you or your friends need us.

I hope this information helps you, if you have any further questions or need anything else please reach out to us and we will do whatever we can to support you all.

Take care,