Patients & Carers
Information about the Hospice for patients
This page explains why you might be referred to Severn Hospice and gives a brief introduction to the services we provide.
What we do
We care for people who are living with complex and progressive illness. Our 
aim is not to shorten, nor to extend the length of our patients’ life. Our aim is to sustain the quality of their life and to provide relief from pain. Because incurable illnesses affect whole families we offer the same loving support, help and counseling to their families, friends and carers.
Why you might be referred to the Hospice
We are a part of the healthcare service offered to people in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin and Montgomeryshire. We are not part of the NHS. We are a completely independent charity.
We provide care for people with complex and progressive conditions. We work closely with all health providers to make sure that we can help patients who need our services and to make sure that patients who need other services are referred to them.
You might be referred to us if you have a progressive condition such as cancer. You might be referred to us if you are experiencing end-stage liver, renal or heart failure or advanced chest disease (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD). This would happen in very close consultation with your hospital care team. You might also be referred to us if you have a different progressive condition such as multiple sclerosis or motor neurone disease.
You could be referred to us for symptom control or for end of life care.
You would usually need to live in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin or Montgomeryshire (Maldywn) to be referred to the Hospice. There are some circumstances when we will consider referrals from outside this area, such as where you live elsewhere but your only family members live in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin or Montgomeryshire.
If you live in our area we will decide whether or not to accept you as a patient by looking at your needs and our ability to meet those needs. We will not discriminate on the grounds of creed or religion, ethnic background, financial status or gender.
We do not provide respite care to cover holidays but we will consider urgent referrals for respite care when existing care arrangements become problematic. You will not normally be referred to the Hospice for care relating to Alzheimer’s disease because we are not able to provide the appropriate environment to support you.
You can only become a patient at Severn Hospice if you are referred by your GP or hospital consultant (other professionals such as Macmillan nurses will talk to your GP about referring you). You cannot refer yourself to the Hospice.
How to access our services
If you think that you would benefit from hospice care, you should talk to your GP or your hospital doctor.
There is more information about what to expect when you are referred to us available by following the links on this page. Our Day Hospices and clinics are provided at our Hospices in Newtown, Shrewsbury and Telford. Our in-patient services are provided at our Hospices in Shrewsbury and Telford. Directions on how to get to the buildings are available on the Maps/directions page.
Our Hospice at Home and Outreach Services are provided to you in your own home.
If you need transport we may be able to arrange for one of our volunteer drivers to take you to and from the Hospices.
The services we can provide
We provide a wide range of services and we will discuss with you and the doctor who refers you exactly which services you will need.
And from the moment you become a patient with the Hospice you and your family will have access to practical support from our social work team and spiritual support from our chaplaincy service. These services are available for as long as they are needed.
Other things it might be useful to know.
We will be able to discuss your treatment with you even if your illness is making it harder for you to communicate.
If you would prefer or need the services of an interpreter to communicate in spoken English with our staff, please just let us know. We will be happy to arrange this.
We can provide our written information in languages other than English. We can also provide it in the form of Braille or spoken onto tape or CD. Please let us know if you would like information provided in any of these ways.
You will not have to pay for any of our services. Our services are funded through a combination of the kind donations of local people and grants from the NHS. We are also very grateful to the hundreds of volunteers who donate their time to every aspect of the Hospice.
The care that we are able to offer you is only possible thanks to the kindness and generosity of all these local people.
You can find out more about the many ways in which local people support the Hospice elsewhere on this website.
If you have private health insurance, are now serving or have ever served in the armed forces, or if you are now or have ever worked for a large company, there are organisations that may make a donation to us from their benevolent funds. If you are happy for us to approach them on your behalf, please let your nurse know.
