Martigny What is palliative care?

Our vision of palliative care is based on a holistic and personalised approach, designed to improve the quality of life of people living with chronic, progressive and incurable illnesses, from the moment of diagnosis right through to the end of their lives. We are committed to relieving not only physical symptoms, but also to addressing the psychological, emotional and spiritual challenges faced by patients and their loved ones.

Our care and support services are delivered through close collaboration between healthcare professionals, social workers and spiritual counsellors, forming a strong network that provides practical and emotional support to patients and their loved ones. Our specialist teams work with sensitivity and expertise to tailor treatments to patients’ specific needs, whilst respecting their wishes and supporting them throughout their care journey.

Finally, we believe in the importance of early and continuous support, aimed at preventing burnout among those involved and avoiding emergency hospitalisations, whilst maintaining dignity and hope right to the end.

To complement our vision of palliative care, the palliative medicine department offers a range of services tailored to each situation:

The palliative care unit

In our palliative care unit at the Centre Hospitalier du Valais Romand in Martigny, we have 8 beds dedicated to providing specialised and continuous care to our patients. Our approach is part of an integrative healthcare vision, combining conventional medical practices with alternative methods such as art therapy and music therapy. These holistic approaches help to improve patients’ emotional and spiritual well-being.

The unit is also supported by a team of volunteers who enrich the care experience by offering companionship, a listening ear and support. We strongly value the active involvement of family members, who are welcome to be present as they wish, thereby contributing to a warmer care environment.

The communal areas of our unit are specially designed to encourage sharing and interaction, providing a place for patients and their loved ones to meet and offer mutual support.

An outpatient consultation

Outpatient consultations offer direct access to palliative care specialists for patients who are mobile. These consultations, provided by specialist doctors and nurses, are arranged at the request of the patient’s GP or other specialists, thereby facilitating tailored and responsive management of complex symptoms, whilst integrating an early-stage care network that meets the wishes and plans of the patient and their loved ones.

A mobile palliative care team

Our mobile team plays a crucial role by visiting patients at home, in care homes or in hospital wards to provide care directly on site. Working closely with GPs, hospital doctors, and nurses in home care, hospitals and residential care homes, this team adapts treatments and interventions to meet patients’ changing needs.

This holistic approach promotes home care wherever possible, ensuring optimal continuity and quality of care across all care settings.

Quality in Palliative Care

Our commitment to the highest quality of care is also recognised at a national level. We are proud to announce that our palliative care service has been awarded the “Quality in Palliative Care” label by the Swiss Association for Quality in Palliative Care, a distinction that highlights our compliance with the highest standards in the provision of specialist palliative care.

This unit can cater for 8 patients requiring continual care in rooms of one and two beds. This care is aimed at individuals who are suffering from progressive diseases and require the skills and support of a specialist multidisciplinary team. The patient’s intentions are given first priority.

The unit favours alternating between the patient’s home and hospital whenever this is possible and desired by the patient and his/her family. The next of kin of the hospitalised patient receive support and their needs are attended to by the multidisciplinary team.

This service is available to all patients who are able to travel. The consultations, provided by a doctor and nurse who are specialised in palliative care, take place in Martigny Hospital upon request from the referring doctor or from another specialist doctor.

This team comes to the patient’s home or to an EMS anywhere in the Canton of Valais romand upon request from his/her referring doctor or home care nurses (CMS).
The team goes to the patient’s bedside with a nurse from the CMS. Necessary adjustments to the treatment are recommended and discussed with the referring doctor.
The mobile palliative care team also intervenes in some hospital departments of the Canton of Valais central when the medical and healthcare teams are facing difficulties in caring for those patients who are seriously ill or reaching the end of their lives.
This activity is still limited in scope, and will expand over the coming years.
Its aims are to enable seriously ill patients to stay at home whenever they so desire, to improve the continuity of care between the patient’s home, the EMS and the hospital, and to develop the quality of the palliative care offered wherever the patient lives or is treated, through the training of healthcare professionals.