The health and care needs for end of life and palliative care can be complex. It can affect many different areas of a person’s health and wellbeing at a time when their focus and priorities may be on other things.

To make sure information and support is as clear and easy as possible to find, a new website is launching in mid and south Essex so local residents and clinicians can access information as and when they need it.

The website aims to support anyone living in mid and south Essex who needs palliative or end of life care. The information provided can help whether care is at home or at a hospice, as well as providing invaluable support for carers, family and loved ones.

The comprehensive and user-friendly platform provides information in bite-sized and easy-to-read snippets. You can try out some of the articles now by visiting the HPAL Mid and South Essex (MSE) website.

The articles on the website cover a diverse range of topics such as like pain management, wellbeing and care at home. For example, you can find articles on common conditions such as dry mouth and breathlessness based on the best national guidance and expert advice. Other articles and features include:

• the importance of advance care planning and thinking about care needs and wishes for the future
• guidance for people facing bereavement and grief
• Pain killers and pain management
• local service directory offering detailed profiles on a range of healthcare services available in mid and south Essex, including pharmacies, helplines, charities, and support groups
• a search engine that can help with finding services quickly and easily by location and topic
• a regular email newsletter for keeping up with events, compassionate communities updates and new articles.
• a short online survey to help improve the website’s content
• for clinicians, the site offers more medically focused articles such as different medication conversion charts.

Family carer feedback:

“I wasn’t prepared for the challenges of caring for my dad at the end of his life. HPAL showed me how to move him in bed, how to treat his nausea and what services were available locally when I needed more help.”

Clinician feedback:

“Amazing and easy to follow for clinicians and carers. There are lots of invaluable resources and videos!”

Clinician feedback:

“A patient of our GP practice had been suffering with painful hiccups for over 2 weeks despite several consultations with other GPs. HPAL enabled me to prescribe effectively within a very short consultation, and his hiccups stopped within 2 hours.”

The website was first launched in northwest London in 2022, developed by Dr Ros Taylor MBE, (Medical Director, Harlington Hospice), and Dr Poppy Freeman, (award winning London GP).