Advice on support available for terminally ill MIL

[MillieMummy]

MIL receiving paliative care for liver cancer and wants to remain at home for as long as possible, she has been given a diagnosis of about 12 months. Her main carer is her DP who is 82 and struggling to cope with physical demands, my DP and his siblings all live a couple of hours away so can give help at w/e's but additional help and support would be useful. MIL is being fed via a tube into her stomach so requires some medical support

We have no idea what kinds of support and care would be available, who organises it, ie local authority or health authority and how it is paid for.

Any information gratefully received ...

Bump

Does MIL have a macmillan nurse? They will be able to help her access whatever help is available to her. They can refer her to a social worker who will assess what help she needs and what funding she's entitled to to pay for it.

Thanks for this, at the moment no macmillan nurse - MIL is not keen on them being involved at this stage.

Are macmillan the best place to start or is there another route into the system?

Who is managing her tube feeds? I would assume that the district nurse would be involved in that - they will be able to help her access care as well if she asks them about it.

Social Services should assess for a package of care .
As suggested District Nursing team ,or GP should point you in right direction if you're not sure who to phone in Social Services .
Though would think you could phone and talk to duty socila worker .
Maybe google to get social services local to your MIL phone nos ?
Sounds really tough - sympathies .

As well as Macmillan nurses, some hospices do 'hospice at home', i.e. they'll come and care for MIL in her home. Not sure how far along on the journey you have to be IYSWIM, I think it varies quite a bit. I appreciate though that if she's baulking at Mac nurse, hospice may be a hard sell.

However, the plus side is that these are charities and their services are provided free, so no issues with PCT/SS wasting time arguing over who should pay, and no cost involved for your MIL. Maybe a good way in would be if you find her local hospice website, then you can tell her what they offer? Lots offer alternative therapies, pampering days etc which might tempt her in intially? Most also offer support groups or counselling for her DP.

It sounds a hard situation, hope you find some help she can accept.

The palliative care team should be able to liaise with social services to provide a care packlage.