A huge focus for us at St Luke’s is enablement. Alongside our Medical and Nursing teams, our St Luke’s Therapy team focus on each person’s individual aims and wishes, and how we can enable them to achieve them.

Enablement is not just about getting better or getting home, it’s about getting what each patient wants from being with us here at St Luke’s. Enablement is not about someone’s functional status, how able they are and whether they will be going home or not, it can be about anything that matters to them.

Our Therapist Team support people in all areas and have worked with many people, enabling them to do what can be seen as small goals, but are hugely important to them.

An individual’s goal could be anything from practising mobility on stairs with a view to going home, working towards being hoisted out into a chair to spend time with visitors, working on understanding breathing, anxiety or fatigue or simply being able to spend time with friends and family.

Our services

Physiotherapy

Our Physiotherapy team provide tailored programmes according to the needs and goals of the patients. We focus on what is meaningful to the patient. Patients accessing specialist palliative care physiotherapy often present with more than one symptom. Symptoms may include: reduced mobility and difficulty with balance, falls, breathing difficulties, respiratory problems, muscle weakness, lymphoedema and pain.

Following a specialist assessment patients may be offered some of the following treatments or interventions: Exercise programmes to improve strength, balance and walking, falls prevention techniques, breathlessness management, airway clearance, TENs, acupuncture, lymphoedema management and goal setting.

Our Physiotherapists see patients in all our care settings, including the In-Patient Centre, Patient and Family Services as either a specialist 1:1 consultation or group setting, as well as seeing patients in the community. We provide an enablement approach to our care. We provide a 5 day a week service Monday through to Friday. 

As a Physiotherapy team our aim is to set meaningful goals that are realistic and achievable for our patients. We endeavour to ensure our treatment plans encompass the wishes of patients as well as considering the impact of families and carers in facilitating achieving these goals. We aim to empower all of our patients in their enablement journey.

Occupational Therapy

Occupational Therapy aims to work with people to maximise their function in all their activities of daily living and the things that matter most to them. The term “Occupation” is used to define these activities and includes leisure, self-care and work.  Independence in these areas can allow a person to feel value in their roles, a sense of identity and a feeling of self-reliance.   

At St Luke’s the Occupational Therapists focus on breaking down the barriers to these “Occupations” be they physical, psychological or environmental and use a wide variety of interventions working directly in partnership with people to achieve goals that are meaningful to them.   

These interventions include using activity to promote emotional wellbeing and provide a sense of purpose, as well as reduce social isolation and promote inclusion. This can take a number of forms ranging from the provision of equipment to maximise physical function to coping strategies and techniques to promote positive mental health. Examples of this include the Creative Activities, and the Therapy Through Nature group as well as individual anxiety management, energy conservation and practicing activities of daily living.  

In addition, the Occupational Therapists assist with the non-pharmacological management of Fatigue, Breathlessness and Anxiety and provide techniques and strategies to manage these difficult symptoms (see the FAB group section).  

The Occupational Therapists work across a number of settings including on the Inpatient Unit, in one to one clinics and in the community in order to enhance meaningful occupation for people across as many environments as possible.

FAB Group

Understanding and Managing Fatigue, Anxiety and Breathlessness (FAB) group.

This group is a five week programme for people experiencing all or a combination of fatigue, anxiety and breathlessness as part of their palliative condition.  

The group helps attendees to understand their symptoms and learn ways to manage these with the aim of achieving the best quality of life. The sessions also provide the opportunity to share experiences with and gain support from other group participants.  

The sessions include taught and practical content and opportunity for discussion. A family member or friend is encouraged to attend.  

The group is led by the Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy and Nurse Team, and runs on Thursday mornings at our Little Common Lane site.