Discharge and end of life care at home – patient case study from The Good Care Group
Mollie was 97 years old. She was very frail, and had suffered 6 strokes over the last 10 years. Mollie was admitted to hospital 3
weeks earlier following another major stroke. She had also been diagnosed with heart failure. The doctors have explained to Mollie
and her family that she now required palliative care. Mollie’s expressed wish was to go back to her dearly loved own home, where
she could be surrounded by her treasured possessions, her beloved cat Freddie, her family and close friends. Mollie’s daughter
contacted The Good Care Group, with a view to bringing her mother home to die.
The Good Care Group sent a specialist care manager to visit Mollie at the hospital and assess her needs and wishes. She also
spent time talking to the doctors and nurses who were caring for Mollie, and from her assessment created a holistic plan of care
which aimed to keep Mollie as comfortable and pain free in her own home, with dignity and respect, for the rest of her days. The
care manager identified two professional carers to provide care for Mollie. Both carers were experienced in delivering end of life
care, and had been trained to the highest standards.
Mollie’s Last Days
Mollie was being cared for in her bedroom – the carers ensured that she always had her favourite music – Mozart – playing around
the clock – so that whenever she woke – day or night – she was treated to the sound of his symphonies. Freddie the cat was
always invited onto the bed – it was where he had always slept and Mollie had no plans for this to change now! The carers cooked
her small portions of her favourite foods – it was agreed she would eat what she wanted, when she wanted. Mollie’s carers used
her favourite scented soap to wash her each day, and they spent hours sitting holding her hands, rubbing cream into her skin,
keeping her nails trim and her make up just so – just as Mollie had instructed them to do. Even in the last days, when they were
unsure whether Mollie was still aware of them, they did not deviate from her wishes. Mollie died on a beautiful summers evening,
with Freddie on her lap, and the sound of Mozart playing softly in the background.