Hospice Care Week

From 5 - 11 October, we are marking Hospice Care Week with Hospice UK

This year's theme is This Is What It Takes - highlighting what it takes to provide end of life care and support to patients and families, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This week we will be sharing patient stories and highlighting some of our services which have expanded during this unprecedented time.

Across England, we know that it takes 40,000 dedicated staff, 125,000 volunteers, 2,500 shop windows, 1.1 million home visits per year, 29,000 facemasks used each day, £1.4 billion per year and much more to provide end of life care for all.

Hospice Care Week is a chance to recognise that this is what it takes to provide quality end of life care.

Discover what delivering care at St Elizabeth Hospice means to patients and see how you can support our work below.

Don't forget, you can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn for more content.

 

"The hospice are so unique and special – the whole process saved my mental health and enabled me to live my life properly"
"The professionalism of the caring staff meant so much to us at the time and we will always be grateful for the support that the hospice offered"
"You cannot put a price on the value of the staff during the most traumatic time"
"There is a real sense of generosity behind all who work for the service"
"A much needed service like no other & reaching so many in our community"

Our hospice care - your stories

This is what it takes to run St Elizabeth Hospice:

  • Each year it costs around £12.9 million to deliver all our care services and run the organisation, including support in Great Yarmouth and Waveney.
  • 70% of our hospice costs have to be raised by us, 30% comes from services commissioned by the NHS.
St Elizabeth Hospice care in 2019-2020:
  • 2,426 individuals were supported in the community
  • 2,741 day care attendances
  • 326 people admitted onto the Inpatient Unit at the hospice on Foxhall Road, Ipswich
  • 771 people received emotional wellbeing and/or bereavement support
  • Zest - our young adult service - currently helps 36 patients with incurable illness and supports 124 family members
Volunteers:

Dedicated volunteers provide vital work to help St Elizabeth Hospice run - especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • 1,708 volunteers give their time to undertake a variety of roles across the hospice
  • Roles include receptionists, administration, gardeners, retail, fundraising and assisting on the Inpatient Unit
  • Volunteers donate 228,557 hours collectively per year, which equates to £3,220,368

Discover volunteering opportunities by clicking here.

Fundraising:

Throughout the year, this is what it takes to fund us at St Elizabeth Hospice:

  • £5 could fund a two course home cooked meal for a patient
  • £12 could fund 5 bereavement packs which are shared with families to help them find ways to manage their grief
  • £25 could pay for clinical support and advice to be provided to a family member via OneCall 24/7
  • £30 could a nurse’s uniform including a tunic and trousers
  • £47 could fund a physiotherapy session for a patient to help them manage their symptoms and pain
  • £60 could fund a blood pressure monitor for the Inpatient Unit or a community nurse to use in patient’s own homes
  • £70 could fund an art therapy session helping people to explore their emotions
  • £74 could fund a one-to-one bereavement session with a trained counsellor for a child or an adult whose loved one has died
  • £124 could fund a group bereavement session helping those whose loved one has died
  • £146 could fund a nurse for a day providing clinical care and support to patients
  • £635 could fund a 24 hour stay for a patient at the Inpatient Unit giving them access to specialist palliative care from our consultants, doctors and nurses

For Zest:

  • £15 could fund a takeaway meal for young adults whilst staying on a short break
  • £829 could fund a Zest X-Change group for one evening, bringing young people together who are living with a life limiting condition
  • £1,548 could fund a young person having a weekend 2-night short break giving them time with friends and building their independence as well as giving parents some respite
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Michael Allen Gardener
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The COVID-19 pandemic has hugely affected our fundraising this year

70% of our income comes from us raising money so 2020 has been particularly difficult with popular events, such as the Midnight Walk, being postponed or cancelled entirely.

You can still help us though by fundraising through a variety of ways:

 

Services which have expanded during COVID-19:
OneCall - our 24 hour advice line for patients, families and healthcare professionals

OneCall is our 24 hour advice line for patients, families and healthcare professionals. Expert advice is available at the end of the phone, even in the middle of the night, from senior registered nurses, seven days a week.

In response to COVID-19, in April we enhanced the OneCall provision with the creation of the Palliative and End of Life Care Hub.

Commissioned by the Clinical Commissioning Group and working with health care partners, The Hub saw us expand OneCall and work in partnership with other providers.

  • 20,000 calls per year answered by OneCall from families, patients and healthcare professionals
  • Currently have 2,500 calls a month
  • During the height of the pandemic between April and May 2020, there was a 38% increase in calls for advice and support
  • Since April 2020, more than 11,400 calls came into The Hub for advice and guidance
Emotional wellbeing service

During COVID-19, the emotional wellbeing team have opened up their bereavement service to those who may not have accessed the hospice before.

  • In April 2020, a dedicated bereavement support webpage was set up, with live chat from counsellors on GriefChat
  • The 565 Service for children aged 5-18 was introduced. Our 565 site has plenty of resources for youngsters, parents and schools to support children through bereavement
  • The emotional wellbeing enquiry line was also set up during the pandemic. This runs from Monday to Friday, 9am-4pm. You can contact the team on 01473 707999
  • Updated pages across our emotional wellbeing support services in response to the pandemic

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