"Comfort trolleys" for families of dying patients introduced in Northern Ireland hospitals

Hospitals in Northern Ireland are seeing to it that family members of patients are looked after

"Comfort trolleys" have been introduced at two hospitals in Northern Ireland for relatives of patients who are in the end stages of life.

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All of the wards at Lurgan Hospital as well as Loane House at South Tyrone Hospital have introduced the “comfort trolleys,” which provide a cart of light refreshments and toiletries for friends and family of sick relatives.

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Pat Nugent, Head of Service for the Southern Trust’s Non-Acute Hospitals, explained: “As a Non-Acute Hospital, our team at Lurgan specialize in offering high-quality rehabilitation services.”

“However in some cases patients are sadly unable to rehabilitate and can deteriorate to the stage of requiring end of life care, known as Palliative Care. As a very emotional time for the whole family, this involves looking after the patient as well as their loved ones, with great compassion.”

“Understandably, families want to spend as much time as possible with their loved one at the end of life and we do everything we can to allow this, supporting them with their emotional as well as physical needs.”

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“Often families don’t want to leave their relative to go for refreshments during their last hours or don’t want to ask staff, who they feel are already very busy looking after patients.”

“The Trolley which is left in the patient’s room for families to help themselves is a very simple and inexpensive solution.”

“I sincerely thank those staff members who came up with this concept which will go a long way in offering a little bit of comfort during a very difficult time.”