History
In 1999 the oncology department of Clinique Saint Louis (Ettelbruck) established a mobile team providing holistic end of life care for patients at their homes. In 2009, an entire new hospital was build, and a merger with Clinique St Joseph led to the formation of 'Centre Hospitalier du Nord (CHdN )' with nearby 400 beds, 1.100 employees , 160 medical specialists with a catchment area of over 80.000 inhabitants which makes it the biggest hospital in the north of Luxembourg.
CHdN provides individualised patient care management starting from the cancer diagnosis to post-treatment follow up.
Profile
At the CHdN our oncology department is responsible for the treatment of all kinds of cancers including hematological neoplasia and solid tumors. We believe in a combined care approach with innovative anticancer treatments, supportive and palliative care.
At our department we give education to nurses and clinicians which means that we receive multidisciplinary medical trainees each year. Our team is responsible for 20 beds on a normal care oncologic ward and for 6 beds on the palliative care ward. Moreover, we have an outpatient unit with 14 seats in day-care for outpatient oncologic treatments.
In addition, the palliative care unit offers six spacious private rooms, each with enough space for the patient's family (and an additional bed if needed). The unit also has a large living room with its own kitchenette which is available to patients and their relatives. A room of silence appropriate for spiritual purposes is located within the hospital.
Specialities
Our team provides interdisciplinary palliative care to adult patients and their families. Most of our patients suffer from solid or hematological cancers, but we are encountering a growing number of patients with respiratory, neurodegenerative, or social disabilities.
Our daily interdisciplinary approach includes symptom control with the use of palliative medicine, psycho-social support, aromatherapy, ergotherapy, physiotherapy, spiritual assistance, and nutritional support/advice (including 'pleasure menus' exclusively prepared for our patients).
In addition, our unit has the opportunity to collaborate with diverse volunteer groups that either directly interact with the patient (or their family) or act only by logistical support, such as cooking or decorating.
Palliative and Supportive Care
Our department includes a dedicated palliative care unit with 6 beds. In detail, we have 3 palliative medicine/pain management specialists, fulltime palliative nurses, a physiotherapist, 2 psychologists, 3 social workers, spiritual care staff, end-of-life staff with physicians and nurses. We have our own mobile specialised nursing team (SPD - soins palliatif à domicile) consisting of special trained physicians and nurses. Our multi-professional team in conjunction with volunteers ensures a global holistic approach to end-of-life care. Our mobile team guarantees proximity and continuity of care in structured collaboration with our external partners, which include other home care providers, general practitioners, and hospice. Annually, on a global basis, our palliative team takes care of approximately 100 patients in their homes, with around 40% of them passing away at home. In 2022, there were 107 new patient admission to our in-patient unit.
Last update: August 2023
