The coronavirus is having a devastating impact around the world, so we want to assure you that at St Helena Hospice, we are doing whatever necessary to support loved ones in our care right now, and we will continue to do so for the duration of this crisis; and when the pandemic is over.
However, we need your urgent support.
Please watch this short message below from Kelly Lee, senior healthcare assistant, working on the inpatient unit at The Hospice.
Over the last few weeks, we have dramatically changed the way we provide our vital care and support to ensure that patients and families towards the end of life across north east Essex, get the care and support they need, when they need it, for however long this crisis continues.
However, this has had a significant impact on our staff as they adjust to the new ways of working.
“In normal circumstances that’s when you hold your hand out, give them a hug, and support them... but we can’t do that anymore.”
Care and compassion go hand in hand at St Helena Hospice and the pandemic is making it increasingly difficult to provide the support we’re so used to giving to our patients and families.
Nevertheless, our staff are finding new ways to provide comfort and will do whatever necessary to support patients and families during this difficult time, to ensure they receive the dignity and respect they deserve - and that we’re known for providing.
“I am so proud to work for St Helena Hospice. Through all of this, the support and compassion the whole team continues to provide is incredible. We are doing everything in our power to give families whatever precious last moments we can together in these truly awful circumstances, because they will never have these moments again.”
But we urgently need your support.
We’re facing a devastating loss of income following the closure of our shops and postponement of fundraising activities.
Help us to care for patients and families that need us right now, to see them through this terrifying time and to help secure our future so that once this is all over we can still be here.
Please, if you are able to, make a donation to our Urgent Appeal right now.
Please also leave a message for our incredible team of staff and volunteers who are working day and night, putting aside their fears to provide the best possible care to loved ones.
The local NHS has appointed St Helena Hospice as the lead organisation coordinating all out of hospital end of life care activity in north east Essex for the duration of the situation.
We have therefore expanded our SinglePoint service and we are working alongside community colleagues and primary care, bringing everyone together in order to respond to any needs in the community relating to end of life care.
To do that, we’ve taken on additional call handlers and nurses to respond to the increase in calls to our 24/7 advice line; and we’ve enhanced our rapid response service, visiting patients at home who are in crisis, day and night.
We have also increased the capacity of our inpatient unit, with an additional two beds at The Hospice, allowing us to care for up 18 patients at a time.
We have also partnered with Bluebird care to allow us to increase the number of beds on our Virtual Ward from eight to 14.
You can read more about this here
These vast changes, whilst vital for supporting local people facing dying, death and bereavement, do come at an extra cost to us.
As a charity, we need to raise around £2 million a year from our shops and fundraising combined and both of these will be significantly impacted for several months because of the coronavirus.
That’s why we’re asking you to please support our Urgent Appeal if you can.
Thank you for any help you are able to give us.
£20 could help a patient staying at The Hospice to keep their strength up by providing nutritious, home cooked meals for two days
£45 could provide vital care and support for patients at the end of their life from a registered nurse at The Hospice for two hours
£80 could provide patients staying at The Hospice with comfort, dignity and compassion from a healthcare assistant during these frightening times for half a day