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565 Foxhall Road
Ipswich,
Suffolk
IP3 8LX
T: (01473) 727776
F: (01473) 274717
Email us here

In the late 1970s and early 1980s there were discussions between various groups including the then East Suffolk District Health Authority, about establishing a Hospice in East Suffolk. It became apparent that Health Authority finances at that time could not fund a Hospice and an Appeal Committee was formed, with a public launch in 1983.

An initial target of £1million was set and visits to other hospices in various parts of the country followed. The Appeal committee worked extremely hard and by 1987 the target had been met, talks held with a local architect and a scheme produced. A competition in the local press resulted in the name St Elizabeth being chosen. The Hospice is named after St Elizabeth of Thuringia who became known for kindness to the less fortunate and devotion to the poor and sick. The decision was also taken to adopt the easily recoginsable tudor rose as the Hospice logo as this has links with another famous Elizabeth.

The contract was awarded and building began in May 1988 with the Duchess of Norfolk laying the foundation stone in July 1988. The building programme was completed in the summer of 1989 and when the first patients were admitted on 1st November that year, the building and equipment and furnishings were all paid for. HRH the Princess Royal officially opened the building on 5th December 1989.

Although built for 20 beds, it was decided to initially open with ten, being two wards of four beds each and two single rooms. Later two more single rooms were opened and the following year in June 1990 our day centre was opened to caterfor eight patients each day. In the following years a further four bedded bay was opened and complementary therapies and out-patients clinics were introduced. By 1997 we had introduced a family support service and extended our day centre building toaccommodate twelve patients per day. Former Ipswich Town and England Manager, Bobby Robson, opened the new day centre in October 1997.

After the celebration of our tenth anniversary in November 1999, plans to extend the building again were put into effect and a year long building plan began in January 2000. Two larger single rooms were opened and the existing four extended to include their own en-suite facilities and ceiling mounted hoists. The four bedded wards were refurbished and piped oxygen installed to every bed, much needed aftereleven years, and a purpose built education centre was added together with another area for staff for the family support team, chaplain, and Hospice at Home team.

Thus, the present day building includes provision for eighteen in-patients and twelve day patients at any one time, plus facilities for out-patients clinics to see doctors, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, complementary therapists or members of the family support team. Hospice at Home is growing all the time with a team on call 24 hours a day to work with GP's, District Nurses, Macmillan and Marie Curie nurses, to help patients stay at home in the last stages of illness if that is what they and their family wish. The Education Centre provides much needed ongoing training for our own staff as well as nurses and doctors in the community who welcome the chance to use our specialist knowledge and skills.

Currently a £1million building project is underway at the Hospice. The Department of Heath awarded a grant of £297,575 to make alterations to the Hospice building and the Board agreed an additional sum of money. The project will transform day care services, dining room, physiotherapy and occupational therapy services and provide an upgrade to our nurse call system in the in-patient unit. The building work started towards the end of 2007 and is due to be completed in the summer of 2008. We will be hosting a series of open events after the refurbishment, enabling the public to see the services provided by their local hospice.

Our care is based on need rather than condition and although the majority of our patients have cancer we do offer our services to any patient with a specialist palliative care need meeting our referral criteria.

The Hospice started as an act of faith and it will always be so. There is satisfaction and encouragement in seeing all that the Hospice has achieved in a relatively short time, but none of it could have happened without the magnificent help which comes to us from the local community.However, it is a continual up hill struggle to raise sufficient funds, with running costs of £5.2 million today.