Milford Care Centre open evening to be held in November

Milford Care Centre open evening is scheduled for November 19, 7-9.30pm in the Education Centre. Rebecca Lloyd, Compassionate Communities Project Worker urges people to join her that evening at Milford, saying: “We’re inviting people from across the Mid-West to pop in for a cup of tea, a slice of cake and a chat about the work that Milford does. The evening will give people an opportunity to meet the team at Milford, to ask questions about hospice and palliative care, living with illness, dying and loss.”

The (free) Open Evening is for anyone who has an interest or a curiosity in the work that Milford does.

This week is Palliative Care Week in Ireland. When you think about palliative care and Milford Care Centre, what comes to your mind? Milford have been asking people throughout the Mid-West this question, through their Compassionate Communities Project over the last few years.

Dr Kathleen McLoughlin, Project Co-ordinator explains: “When we run community events we ask people what they think of when they hear about Milford, and most people tell us about the excellent care a loved one received, or comment on how clean the place is, or discuss their engagement with fundraising or volunteering. But a lot of people though, say to us ‘Once, you’re in Milford, that’s it’. They tell us that they believe that Milford is just about dying.”

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But, Milford Care Centre is about so much more. The Centre, provides palliative care for up to 30 people in the hospice inpatient unit and to over 300 people living at home every day from across the entire Mid West Region.

In 2014, the Centre cared for close to 1,800 people with life limiting illness. Milford enables people to achieve the best possible quality of life whilst living with serious illness. Jim Rhatigan, Head of Therapies and Social Care Services explains: “We’re about making the most of life, for however long a person has left.

“We provide support at home, in a nursing home, in hospital, or in the hospice – depending on what each person needs and wants.”

People can receive Milford’s palliative care services for a number of years – not just in their last weeks or days of life. Palliative care is an approach that looks at much more than medical need.

It is about achieving the best possible quality of life for people with serious illness by caring for all aspects of the person – emotional, physical and spiritual.

Milford offers a therapeutic day care service where people attend for eight week cycles of medical and nursing intervention, complementary and physical therapies.

Their team includes pastoral care, horticulturalists, art therapists and even hairdressers (considered by some patients to be the most important!). The Centre also supports the person’s family, friends and carers both during an illness and afterwards.

Marie Richardson, Head of Social Work and Bereavement Services says “We offer a range of supports and services to people who are caring for someone living with advanced illness, as well as services for people who are bereaved.

Our bereavement services are not only for families whose loved one has been cared for at Milford – we provide bereavement services for the families of people who had died in any setting in the Mid-West.”

In mid-2016, Milford Care Centre will commence an extensive new development project that will see a new hospice inpatient unit with increased bed capacity serving Counties Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary, together with an expanded nursing home built on campus.

Pat Quinlan, Chief Executive is looking forward to the new building project starting, saying: “We are about to embark on the next phase of development at Milford Care Centre, that will see a new and bigger hospice for the people of the Mid-West.

“The new facility will ensure that all patients will have their own room in the hospice as well as enhanced facilities for families and will enable further development and expansion of our not for profit nursing home.”

He continued: “We, in Milford, believe that the people we serve throughout the Mid West deserve only the best of care from us as and when they need it. Therefore, we are confident that on completion, this new facility will ensure that we continue to be able to deliver on meeting this stated objective well into the future.”

If you are interested in attending please email [email protected] or just turn up on the evening where you’ll be made welcome.

Visit the Milford Care Centre website here

Check out the Milford Care Centre Facebook page here and Twitter here