Compton Care patient ties knot to partner of 23 years in Wolverhampton hospice ceremony
A hospice patient from Wolverhampton has tied the knot to her long-term partner in a ceremony at Compton Care.
Joanne and Andrew Phillips, who have been together for 23 years, were named husband and wife at a service at the charity's Compton Road West base.
Hospice patient Joanne, aged 48, and Andrew, 52, were joined by their two daughters and Compton Care's own chaplain Elaine Dejonge carried out the service after staff struggled to find a registrar due to Covid-19.
Claire Marshall, chief executive of Compton Care, said: "Though we might all currently be living in unpredictable times, there's one thing that we know for sure here at Compton, love is always certain.
"Our patients matter no matter what, they will always come first and I’m so proud to have an incredible team to go above and beyond to be there for them.
"This is a really difficult time but it’s wonderful to see everyone coming together and watch as they made Joanne and Andrew’s dream of getting married become a reality and we'd all like to extend our warmest congratulations to the newlyweds and thank them for letting us be a part of such a special day.
"We would like to offer our sincere thanks to everyone for your continued support of Compton Care. We have always been and will continue to be committed to supporting our patients and families, no matter what."
It comes after the charity announced it would temporarily suspend its clinic-based activities for patients accessing its Living Well Centre due to the pandemic.
Its Lymphoedema service is shifting to over-the-phone support.
In a statement, the charity said: "Our priority is to ensure our Inpatient Unit continues to operate safely and to the best of our ability.
"We are also exploring how we can extend this service to support the needs of our palliative care patients in our region.
"We will be adapting to enable more patients to access our services and to reduce pressures on acute hospital beds.
"We have a wonderful staff team at Compton Care, and they are ready and willing to support the local health care system at a time of unprecedented pressures."
