St Mary’s Hospice cares for unprecedented number of patients
Hospice Care for All, St Mary’s Hospice cared for 1,208 people with life-limiting illnesses during the last financial year, an increase of 28% since it embarked on its current strategy two years ago.
The hospice which was founded in 1979, has transformed its service to meet the growing levels of demand for end of life care in all its different aspects. As well as the patients themselves, the hospice supported a further 300 family members last year with bereavement counselling, spiritual care, financial and even housing support.
Dr Debbie Talbot, medical director at St Mary’s said:”The simple fact is that our regional population is changing. There are more of us, from increasingly diverse backgrounds who are living longer and with a number of complex conditions. Hospices need to find new ways to provide more care to more people within limited resources.”
Latest figures show that St Mary’s cares for 400 people every day across Birmingham and Sandwell, whether at the hospice, in their homes or in the community. Its approach has received backing from Simon Stevens, the Birmingham born CEO of NHS England who described the Hospice’s new approach as:”a clear route map that other hospices across the country can take.”
In order to maintain the levels of home care the hospice offers, trained volunteers, who between them speak 12 community languages, attend people with life-limiting illnesses in their homes, offering friendly companionship and a listening ear.
Talbot added:”It is heartening to know that we are reaching more people across Birmingham and Sandwell than ever before, but we know that there are many more across the region whose needs still go unmet. By expanding services and developing new ways to support people – especially those in community settings and in people’s own homes – we hope that we can continue to care for more people, their families, loved ones and carers year on year and go someway to meeting that need.”
It costs over £8m per year to run the hospice and all its outreach services, and 63% of that cost is met by voluntary donations.
