Your future, your care – Saint Michael’s advance care planning service

This is an innovative service working with local GPs to help people explore what they want to happen if they were to become less well. This is called an advance care plan (ACP).

Advance care plans are important as we all want different things for ourselves, including from our healthcare. If the healthcare team around you don’t know what you want, and you are too unwell to tell them, they might not get your care right for you.

Our  advance care planning service was set up to help people have these conversations and make sure that their wishes are heard. It is free to use this service.

Who can use the service?

Anyone living in a care home across the Harrogate district can ask to be referred to our service. Just ask your care home team to refer you. Your GP may also suggest that making an advance care plan would be helpful and, if you agree, they can also refer you to the service.

What does it involve?

We share a short video for you to watch, which explains a bit more about what advance care planning is, why it is important and the kinds of things to think about before you talk to us.  We then arrange for you to talk with one of our trained volunteer advance care planners by video calling. You are welcome to have someone with you during this call.

The planner records you wishes in a special document or advance care plan. This will be sent to you, for you to look at. We arrange for you to have a second conversation with the same advance care planner about a week later. This is to check through your plan, answer any questions and make any further changes.

We will talk to you about sharing your plan with your GP, family and the healthcare teams around you.

Other practical planning information

We can also advise and give information on a variety of important issues around practical planning for the end of life.

These include giving someone close to you the legal power to make health decisions for you, called Power of Attorney; donating your body to science; different burial options or even having difficult conversations with family and carers.

Telephone information service

Our planners and telephone information service can give you the information you need. The telephone information service is open to anyone who may need assistance with planning for the end of life. You do not need to have used the service to call us. Call us on (01423) 856 799, between 8am and 8pm, seven days a week.