Changes to our therapy support in our community
In our recent communication about changes to the opening hours of our community advice line, we shared that we may also need to make further changes to how we support people in our community in the future.
As a hospice we’re committed to providing the best care possible and to making the best use of our resources. This means we’re continually reviewing our services and looking at how we can work most efficiently.
With this in mind, we’re sad to share that from the end of July our Therapy team will no longer be working in the community seeing people at home, and as of immediate effect we are no longer accepting community referrals for support from our Therapy team.
However, if a patient’s illness means they are unable to come into the hospice to see the team, our expert team will still go out to people under our care, to support them with breathlessness and fatigue management. Our Therapy team will also continue to provide specialist advice to other health care professionals in the community. In addition, our Therapy team will support patients through exercise and education classes, one to one gym based exercises and on our wards.
As a local charity dedicated to supporting people at a most vulnerable time in their lives, making any change that affects those under our care is really difficult, but regrettably, because of rising costs in the current economic climate, a difficulty shared by many other hospices across the UK, we’ve had to make this choice.
As many UK hospices continue to face difficult financial positions Hospice UK are continuing to push their ‘manifesto for palliative and end of life care’, advocating for more funding so everyone affected by dying, death and bereavement gets the best possible care and support. The manifesto has five main goals:
- Deliver a new funding solution for hospices and palliative and end of life care to end the postcode lottery in access
- Introduce a national delivery plan for palliative and end of life care in every nation to support delivery of local services
- Guarantee that palliative and end of life care services meet each individual’s needs, including those of people dying at home
- Act to ensure that nobody dies in poverty and tackle inequalities in palliative and end of life care
- Improve support for families and carers of people with a terminal illness
You can read more here: https://www.hospiceuk.org/latest-from-hospice-uk/manifesto-palliative-and-end-life-care
Are you changing your therapy team service because of your new hospice building?
The changes to the support our Therapy team can offer people isn’t as a result of the cost of building our new hospice at Pease Pottage, the funding for which was secured through a separate appeal to help us build it. It’s because of rising costs that we’re all experiencing. Unless we act now, we would place the sustainability of our charity – and the vital work it provides – at heightened risk.
During these challenging times we never forget that it’s only thanks to your generosity and the wider support of our community that we can be there for people living with a terminal or life-limiting condition. We continue to be enormously grateful that your continued support enables us to help so many local people who need us.
If you would like to make a donation towards our vital care please visit our donate page or call 01293 447361.
