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A Community Hospice for Great Yarmouth & Waveney

St Elizabeth Hospice has submitted a planning application to develop a community hospice facility in Gorleston.

This will provide enhanced palliative care services for the Great Yarmouth and Waveney communities, ensuring local people receive the care they need closer to home.

St Elizabeth Hospice is dedicated to improving life for people living with progressive or life-limiting illnesses. We provide specialist support – wherever and whenever it is needed – through expert medical care, therapy, and emotional support.

With over 35 years of experience, we have supported thousands of patients and their families across Ipswich and the surrounding area, delivering expert care and compassionate service.

Our current services in the area

Since 2019, our partnership with East Coast Community Healthcare (ECCH) has enabled us to support over 6,000 patients and their families in Great Yarmouth & Waveney area.

  • Specialist consultant, therapy, and medical support for palliative care beds at Beccles Hospital
  • Specialist palliative care support at James Paget University Hospital
  • 24-hour specialist palliative care advice line – OneCall: 0800 567 0111
  • Community nursing palliative care service operating during working hours, including weekends
  • Community Care Unit – providing outpatient care and therapy services at Beccles Hospital, Louise Hamilton Centre and Martham Medical Centre

A new hospice for the community

About the development

  • The hospice will be built on a seven-acre site previously owned by East Coast Hospice, which merged with St Elizabeth Hospice in 2023.
  • Following a feasibility study and stakeholder consultations, plans were developed to ensure the facility meets community needs and remains financially sustainable.
  • LSI Architects, a Norwich-based firm, has designed the hospice development.
  • The project will be delivered as part of a single build phase and the hospice is grateful for the support and partnership of Louise Hamilton Trust, as we join in strengthening end-of-life care in the region.

Watch the video here to see the impact of current services and what a community hospice would mean to patients and staff.

The community hospice build explained

Watch our video with Hanna McDowell, Associate Director of Care Operations, as she explains the plans for the community hospice build in Gorleston:

Key features of the new hospice:

Community Care Unit

Supporting day-care patients, providing therapy and emotional & wellbeing services

A base for hospice staff

Enhancing coordination of care in the local area

Community café

A welcoming space for patients, families, and visitors

Inpatient Unit

Capacity for up to 16 beds, ensuring more people receive dedicated end-of-life care in a hospice setting

A shared vision for end-of-life care

Judi Newman, St Elizabeth Hospice Chief Executive, said:

“We are delighted to submit this planning application and share our full plans with the wider community.

“With the invaluable support of Roberta Lovick and the Louise Hamilton Trust, we are in a strong position to develop the community hospice sustainably in a single phase. Their partnership has made this opportunity possible, and we are truly grateful.

“Roberta is an outstanding advocate in advancing end-of-life care, both locally and nationally, and we look forward to working together to achieve our shared vision of a community hospice for Great Yarmouth and Waveney.

“We also extend our sincere thanks to the local community and stakeholders whose valuable insights have helped shape our plans. Together, we are working towards greater parity in palliative and end-of-life care for the local area.”

Why are we doing this?

The need for a dedicated hospice in this region is clear.

Office for National Statistics research shows that demand for palliative care in Great Yarmouth & Waveney will rise by 35% by 2040, driven by a matching increase in the over-65 population.

Currently, only 2.1% of residents in Norfolk and Waveney die in a hospice, compared to the national average of 4.4% (PopNat Hospice UK 2024).

This project will help address this gap, ensuring more people receive the best possible compassionate end-of-life care.

“I am so grateful we kept Steve at home and that we were holding hands as he took his final breath.

“Even after Steve’s death, the hospice has continued to check in on me, offering support and bereavement care should I need it.

Kathy Piotrowski

Dr Shane Gordon, Executive Managing Director at James Paget University Hospital

“For many years, the local community has expressed their desire to see a hospice built for the people of Great Yarmouth and Waveney.

“In my previous role in Ipswich and Colchester Hospitals,  I worked closely with charitable hospices including St Elizabeth Hospice and I have seen first hand what a difference they can make as a community partner, improving the quality of life from the point of a diagnosis of a life-limiting illness with their holistic care for patients and their families, all the way through to compassionate bereavement support.

“The partnership of hospices with their local hospitals can help to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions, as well assisting people to be discharged comfortably from hospital and giving greater choice for people to die in a setting of their choosing.

“As part of the future James Paget new hospital plans, we would welcome the opportunity to see a community hospice built in Gorleston, and pay tribute to all the local efforts from the community over the years to help make this a reality.”

How you can help…

We are building a modern community hospice that will meet the needs of Great Yarmouth and Waveney – not just today, but for years to come.

But we cannot achieve this ambition without you.

Your donation will help turn this vision into a reality – a sustainable, high-quality hospice facility where local people will receive the vital support they need, during life’s most uncertain times.

Together, we can deliver a hospice for your community. Thank you for your support.

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