The Primrose Unit
Please note that The Primrose Unit is based at Princess of Wales Community Hospital. To contact the unit directly please call 01527 488213. If there is no answer or problems getting through, please call the main reception at POWCH on 01527 488000. Unfortunately, Primrose Hospice in St Godwald’s Road cannot transfer phone calls to the hospital.
The Primrose Unit at The Princess of Wales Community Hospital is a six bedded (single occupancy) NHS Specialist Palliative Care ward.
Patients are admitted under the care of an Advanced Clinical Practitioner who is supported by a Consultant in Palliative Medicine who work Monday to Friday. The Unit is staffed 24/7 with Registered nurses who work 12-hour shifts, and medical support is available out of hours and over a weekend from a Consultant in Palliative Medicine.
Each room is equipped with air conditioning, a profiling bed, fully adjustable patient mobile chair, TV & DVD, CD Player/radio and refrigerator. The rooms also have en-suite toilet facilities with two rooms having overhead hoist systems, although the remaining four rooms have plenty of room for mobile hoists and other necessary equipment. Each room also has an adjustable chair/bed for when visitors wish to stay overnight. There is a communal kitchen and lounge where visitors can make their own refreshments and / or chat in an informal setting. Visiting hours are not restricted, and concessions are available for car parking costs.
Referrals to the Unit are made by other professionals including GP’s, Consultants from Acute Trusts and Specialist Palliative Care CNS’. Admission would be considered for patients for periods of symptom control and crisis intervention when this is difficult to manage in another setting. In addition to day case admissions for therapeutic procedures such as paracentesis or blood transfusions when appropriate to be done in this setting.
Care on the Primrose Unit is holistic and individualised with the patient placed at the centre of their care. Families, relatives, and carers are encouraged to contribute to help us make the patients stay with us more meaningful. This individualised care approach means that our medication, hygiene and comfort routines are tailored around the patient’s individual needs.
Patient care is co-ordinated with input from other members of the multi-disciplinary team including Specialist Nurses, Physiotherapists, Speech and Language therapists and dieticians amongst others all meeting regularly to discuss and co-ordinate bespoke plans of care.
To contact The Primrose Unit at the Princess of Wales Community Hospital:
Direct number to Unit – 01527 488213
If there is no answer or problems getting through, please call the main reception at POWCH on 01527 488000.
