Staffordshire hospice opens new therapy and wellbeing centre
A hospice in Stafford has opened its new therapy and wellbeing centre to the public.
After being closed for three years due to the pandemic and renovations, the eagerly anticipated launch saw hundreds of people gather over two days for a behind-the-scenes tour of the revamped centre belonging to Katharine House Hospice.
Mayor Andy Cooper and wife Judy, Councillor Jeremy Pert and Councillor Ann Edgeller, patients, family members, funders, staff, volunteers, trustees, healthcare providers and community organisations joined together to celebrate the opening.
An old building in much need of renovation has been transformed with new clinical rooms, social space and stunning gardens.
Katharine House Hospice’s CEO, Richard Soulsby, said: “Thank you to everyone. It has been a difficult time over the last few years with the pandemic and our teams responded with tremendous versatility to adapt the services we provided.
“Our inpatient and community care continued yet we had to close this unit down on March 16, 2020, and the service continued online.
“Today it feels like we are getting back on an even keel, exemplified by this building and new service being opened today to welcome back families from Mid Staffordshire who need our care.”
Katharine House Hospice’s outpatient care lead, Cathy Browning, said: “After being closed for three years and running our service mostly online and on the phone, it was simply amazing to see the doors open and familiar faces again.
“And it was a real pleasure to see some of our most dedicated volunteers who have been helping us since the charity’s inception in 1989 but haven’t been able to support us since the centre closed three years ago.
“We want to be there for every local family when they need us and the team cannot wait to see our patients and provide the very best in palliative care for free, when families need it.”
For almost 35 years the hospice has provided compassionate care to families for free.
When the pandemic hit, it was one of the first to adopt an almost virtual support and care service with traditional day service and outpatient care being run online and on the phone.
After consultation with the community in 2021, it was realised that there was a need for a more flexible service providing quick and easy access to specialist end of life care services.
The charity set about to adapt its support to suit the community better and be there for more families going through one of the most distressing times of life.
The hospice will offer a range of courses and clinics to help people manage their conditions and symptoms.
And on hand to help are a team of doctors, palliative nurse specialists, nurses, healthcare assistants, clinical nurse specialists focusing on lymphoedema care, complementary therapists, physiotherapist and occupational therapists, counsellors, spiritual care leaders and family support workers.
Mr Fletcher added: “With tens of thousands of people with a palliative diagnosis in our region yet only a small percent receiving our care, we want to help more families who need our care.
“Between them, our team have hundreds of years’ experience in palliative care and our highly skilled team of palliative specialists support patients and their loved ones to live more independently and we can do this from day one of a palliative diagnosis.
“Our expert teams pride themselves on having the time to care and deliver this to an exceptional standard.
“What people might not know is that our counselling and emotional support for patients and family members continues to be there for as long as people need it, and we can offer advice, even if people do not wish to receive treatment.
“Our expectations are that the renovated therapy and wellbeing centre will enable us to provide services to support many more people in our community.”
