NIGHTINGALE House Hospice in Wrexham has launched a direct admission service amid the coronavirus crisis.

The hospice says it is aware of the increasing pressure on community health colleagues and is conscious that requests for referrals for admission are not progressing quickly at this time.

Nightingale House says it currently has beds available and is setting up a dedicated telephone number, operational between 9am and 4pm, Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays).

This will enable its staff to take phone calls from family members of individuals with palliative care needs who might require admission and undertake direct triage so that admissions can occur more quickly in these challenging times.

The referral criteria for those individuals is that they are over the age of 18yrs old and are living within Wrexham, Flintshire, South Denbighshire, and the border areas and have a palliative (life-limiting) diagnosis – this can include cancer, heart failure, neurological conditions such as motor neurone disease and known to the district nursing/general practice teams.

Nightingale House said due to its duty of care to existing patients it is unable to admit individuals with symptoms of coronavirus; a high temperature and/or a new continuous cough.

Call 01978 316800 and ask to speak to a member of the triage team. Please note this is in addition to the hospice's 24/7 advice line which is still operational.

Nightingale House said: "Following receipt of your call we will endeavour to get in touch with your primary carer such as your GP or district nurse to confirm the request for admission and obtain the relevant clinical information we require to enable the admission to be progressed.

"We will keep you informed of the progress of your call and referral enquiry."