Our Caring Services
Community Team
St Raphael’s has 10 Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS), who visit patients at home. They are the first point of contact when a new patient is first referred to St Raphael’s, either via their GP or Hospital Consultant, and they will stay in touch with the patient for the whole time their care is under St Raphael’s and will also keep in touch with the family.
The CNS’s work in two teams, one supporting patients in the London Borough of Sutton and the other in the London Borough of Merton. Each CNS will usually have about 40 patients to support at any one time.
They provide symptom control and advice to enable patients to remain comfortable and functional at home. The team liaise with other services that provide practical assistance such as the social services and district nurses, to ensure that patients have co-ordinated care.
The Community Palliative Care nurse is the first point of contact for all newly referred patients. They will maintain that contact with each patient for as long as necessary.
Referrals to the hospice come from GP’s hospital consultants and hospital based clinical nurse specialists.
Kate Flint and Gail Linehan
The Hospice’s Deputy Matron Gail Linehan is Head of the Community Team, and Kate Flint is Deputy Team Leader.
- All the Community Team nurses can be contacted on
- 020 8335 4575
