St Richard’s Hospice – November

Column, Worcester News

 

Last week, we joined hospices across

the UK to celebrate the annual campaign – Hospice Care Week.

The theme for this year’s campaign

was to show ‘what it takes’ to provide hospice care to patients, their loved ones, and bereaved people.

The week was an opportunity to

highlight the vital work of hospices. It was also a chance to raise awareness of, and reduce misconceptions around, palliative and end-of-life care.

With the world dealing with the

effects of Covid-19, expert end-of-life care is more important than ever.

Many of our services have 'gone

virtual', with compassionate, individual support given over the phone or by video call.

During the week, we looked at some

of the figures behind our care during Covid-19.

For example: since April, our Clinical

Nurse Specialists have given 1,335 hours of patient-centred support over the phone for individuals in the community.

Our Family Support Team has held

43 group support sessions online.

And, our Living Well Team has given

157 hours of patient-centred support via video call, alongside 510 hours by telephone.

As our caring teams have adapted,

so our Fundraising Team has developed ideas for virtual events, challenges and campaigns.

So far, the team has put on 12

virtual events, with four more taking place this month, and even more planned for the future.

Our 19 shops were closed for at

least three months during lockdown. Since starting to reopen in June, more than 133,173 items have been sold in our shops – helping raise the funds needed to continue our care.

These figures offer a small insight

into what it takes to run our services.

Looking at the bigger picture,

it is clear none of this would be possible without the incredible support of our community.

Whether it is volunteering time,

making donations, buying items from our shops, raising funds, or simply sending us kind messages of support – we couldn’t do it without you!

Thank you for giving ‘what it takes’

for us to be there for people when they need us most.

 

Debbie Westwood, Care Director,

St Richard’s Hospice

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