Patient Care - Exeter Leukaemia Fund

Patient Care

ELF provides support to both patients and their relatives. We do this holistically, aiming to care for patients' emotional and physical wellbeing whilst they are treated at the Haematology Centre.

Some of the services ELF provides include:

• Aromatherapist; using essential oils to enhance well being, relieve stress and promote vitality
• Wii Games Consoles; for isolation rooms to relieve boredom and stress
• Therapeutic massage; to relax aching limbs and encourage positive mental thoughts
• Support specialist counsellor, Louise Page, who works from the Quiet room, situated in the Haematology Centre on a part time basis, of three days per week. Support is given in many different forms and can be given face to face, or over the telephone and patients either refer themselves or are referred from a wide range of sources, e.g. G.P’s, ward staff, ELF staff, medical secretaries. Counselling sessions focus on problems and how to deal with them. Many patients benefit from learning relaxation techniques and visualisation skills as well as being able to talk about their thoughts and feelings in a supportive environment. Recently Louise started a bereavement group which provides support to relatives. Although the NHS Trust recognises the importance of the counsellor’s role, it does not have the funds to support the cost of funding the role, therefore our charity has committed to funding this post to ensure that high levels of support are provided for those affected by Leukaemia and related diseases being treated at the RD&E.
• Two state of the art exercise bikes to help relieve the tediousness of being in isolation whilst maintianing patient fitness levels