Queen speaks of need for more hospices as she praises centre during visit

The Queen has said there “aren’t nearly enough” hospices in the country as she praised their work in providing end-of-life care.

Camilla made the comments while visiting Prospect Hospice in Wroughton, Swindon, Wiltshire, on Tuesday.

Prospect Hospice, which is celebrating its 45th anniversary, provides the only dedicated end-of-life care service for people in north-east Wiltshire, free of charge.

During her fourth visit to the charity, Camilla met staff, volunteers and supporters as well as patients and their families.

She made an impromptu speech after unveiling a plaque for the Evans Education Centre at the site, named after the founder, Rev Derryck Evans.

“Every time I come here, I come away feeling so impressed and feeling so lucky actually that Wiltshire has something like this to look after people who are at the end of their life,” she told those gathered in the hospice cafe.

“All these hospices, you expect to go in and feel sad at first but here, as you know, it has a very uplifting feel. You’ve got nurses looking after you so beautifully, you’re surrounded by your family.

“If you, like all of us, we have to go, but you know somewhere like Prospect makes all the difference because you go in peace, you go surrounded by people you love, you’re having the best care.

“As I’ve said time and time again, I wish we could clone these places because there aren’t nearly enough.

“We just have to keep them going, I know a lot of people help out but we need a lot more help than that.”

Camilla previously visited Prospect Hospice in January 2012 and in January 2020, as well as the charity’s outreach centre in Marlborough in February 2016.

She described the hospice as a “fantastic place” to trustees before going into the rooms of two patients.

The Queen joked to patient Mark Dennis: “I think you are very brave to have me here. Are they looking after you well? You couldn’t be in a better place.”

She spoke to Christopher Southall, and his wife Kate, about his 42-year service as a chef with the Royal Air Service.

Mr Southall described how he had worked for the RAF, in 3 Mobile Catering Squadron, then became a full-time reserve until he was diagnosed with cancer.

Speaking about the hospice, Camilla said: “It is a very special place. It makes such a different to have places like this. You are looked after by all these wonderful people. They are so cheery and positive.”

“I am so glad you got here. There are so few beds around.”

Mr Southall said his twin daughters, aged 14, and 21-year-old son who has followed in his footsteps by joining the RAF, are able to come and visit him in the hospice.

After she went to leave, Camilla spotted a Wolf Hall book by Hilary Mantel – telling Mr Southall it was “really good”.

She asked whether he had watched the television series based on the novels, which she described as “brilliantly done”, and said the book had featured on the Queen’s Reading Room.

Camilla then spoke to staff and supporters about the death of founder Mr Evans, who died at the hospice in 2008, surrounded by his family and visited there by his pet cat.

The Queen said: “You couldn’t wish for a better death. A good death is so important. That’s why there should be so many more of these hospices. I can’t believe we have so few in this country.”

During her visit, Camilla was told of the challenges in funding hospices. She heard that Prospect Hospice receives about £1.4 million from the Government, accounting for less than 20% of its costs.

Chief Executive Jeremy Lune said there were “huge issues” with the funding model which was “not fit for purpose”.

“In the meantime, the only way we’ve been able to continue delivering the care that Her Majesty so beautifully articulated is because of the support of every single one of you,” he told supporters.

“Every time you make a cake, or jump out of an aeroplane, every corporate that gives us some money, every bag of clothes that goes into a shop, is changing people’s lives for the better and that’s to be celebrated.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Camilla met therapy dog Fenton during a tour of Great Western Hospital’s new emergency department.

She spoke of the Swindon hospital’s good work in serving the Wiltshire community, saying her grandchildren had been there on several occasions.

The Queen was shown around the building by consultant Dr Liz Barneby and also spent time speaking with clinical staff and patients in the refurbished department.

Towards the end of her visit, the Queen was joined by nine-year-old Latoyah Vashi, a pupil at the nearby Badbury Park Primary School, to unveil a plaque marking the official opening of the department.

Camilla said: “Before I go, I would just like to say a few words.

“I am so impressed by this A&E. I have had very good feedback because I have had friends who come here and grandchildren who have been here on several occasions.

“I quite often get pictures saying, ‘Guess where I am? Back in the A&E in Swindon’, so I know it quite well.

“I was thinking about it, and I probably haven’t been inside this hospital for 47 years – since I had my daughter, so that was a few years ago.

“I really wanted to congratulate everybody who has done such a brilliant job with this place and everyone who is working here.

“I do know from first-hand experience the difference you are making to this part of the country. So, congratulations to you all.”