Our Lymphoedema Service

Our lymphoedema clinics are an important part of the care services offered by St Luke’s, with more than 1,000 people receiving help each year.

St Luke’s is fortunate to have two Lymphoedema Specialist Practitioners based at the Hospice; Carol Thayer and Kirsty Sewell-Threadgold have between them over 50 years’ nursing experience.

But what is lymphoedema and how is it treated? We chat to Kirsty who tells us more about the service and how it benefits patients.

Q. What is lymphoedema? Carol Thayer

A. Lymphoedema is a long-term condition which causes swelling in the body’s tissues. It can affect any part of the body, but usually develops in the arms and legs. It is caused by a failure of the lymphatic system which can be the result of an inherited genetic condition, cancer treatment, injury or infection.

Q. How is it treated? “ Thank you for all Patient voice your professional and emotional support with my lymphoedema. I appreciate all the help you have given me, you went above and beyond. “

A. There is no cure for lymphoedema but it is possible to control the main symptoms using techniques to reduce fluid build-up and stimulate the flow of fluid through the lymphatic system.

At our clinics we provide skin care advice which is very important because one of the biggest risks with lymphoedema is developing an infection called cellulitis.

Exercise is also very important because without exercise and movement, lymphatic fluid will not move. We will then prescribe hosiery if appropriate.

Q. Where are the clinics held?

A. Once a referral is received, the patient will be invited to the Hospice for their first appointment to have an initial assessment. An individualised management plan will be drawn up with the patient and initially they may attend a clinic every few weeks until their lymphoedema is stabilised.

We have satellite clinics in Alsager, Crewe and Nantwich and following the first assessment patients will be seen as close to home as possible.

Kirsty Sewell-Threadgold

Q. How important is this service?

A. We are very lucky to have this service. Across the country there is a disparity in services due to funding and some patients won’t have their lymphoedema identified or managed. We are therefore very lucky to have this service commissioned by St Luke’s and now jointly run with Cheshire Community Integrated Care Partnership and Macmillan Cancer Care.

In 2020, a total of 1,189 patients accessed the clinic either through face to face appointments or by telephone consultation. This was made possible because of your continued support - thank you.

Patient voice

Thank you so much for your time and effort...you have changed my life. “

Patient voice

After many years of various treatments for my lymphoedema elsewhere, after my appointment with you I felt more reassured than I ever have. You were extremely courteous and helpful and I look forward to attending the rest of my appointments. “

Busy improving our Hospice

With some teams working remotely and less people in the Hospice, our maintenance team of Jackie, Dave and Karl wasted no time at all to take the opportunity to improve our building, enhance our Covid procedures and generally get stuck in and ‘refresh’ all areas of the Hospice for our families and patients.

Our building was purchased in 1987, when local fundraising groups worked hard to generate enough money to buy Grosvenor House, a then large detached property set in 1.5 acres of land on Queensway, Winsford.

The building was bought for £75,000 and we remain here today, firmly embedded in the local community. The first patients were admitted in April 1988 and the goal was that Grosvenor House would have the ambiance of a large comfortable family home. Today we still want to retain that feeling but with all the modern amenities for patient care and ensuring we meet all the requirements for a safe environment.

The challenge for Jackie, Dave and Karl is to keep the Hospice ‘in tip top condition’ but also to do it while we remain open, so during a quieter time over the past 12 months, they have pulled out all the stops to do things that simply cannot be done when we are using all the rooms.

The other challenge is that sadly like all of us, our building is aging and not as young as it once was.

We want to thank them, the often unsung heroes of our team, as this has helped so much and been a brilliant support to the nursing teams.

- Dr Andrea Graham Dave and Karl

It is thanks to you, our loyal supporters, we have been able to improve our hospice inside and out, making sure the money you kindly donate is used wisely for our sustainable future.

Committed to continuous improvements for patient comfort and safety

Here are just some of the improvements which have been made to our Hospice by Jackie, Dave and Karl over the last 12 months.

Decorated bedrooms adding new soft furnishing, increasing comfort for our patients Installed new secure key card entry and electronic contactless sign in systems Modern new seating in our waiting areas and patients areas, supporting improvements for infection control

New flooring in patient areas to support improvements for infection control Installed all new energy efficient lighting across the whole hospice, helping us to be more ‘green’ Built new ‘covid friendly’ patient visiting area

Covid friendly hand sanitising stations and perspex screens to support staff and visitors

Office areas reconfigured to ensure safe working for all staff

Brand new and upgraded phone system, supporting cost improvements and enhanced technology

New heating system and boilers for improved comfort, warmth, cost and energy efficiency

Flatscreen smart TVs added to all the bedrooms Enhanced outdoor spaces ready for 2021!