Hospices form collaborative partnership to help improve end of life care in north east Essex and Great Yarmouth and Waveney

St Helena Hospice and East Coast Hospice have formed a collaborative working relationship that will benefit both charities and the people they support, to ultimately improve end of life care in north east Essex and Great Yarmouth and Waveney.

St Helena Hospice has been helping local people face incurable illness and bereavement in north east Essex for 36 years; whilst East Coast Hospice is currently fundraising to build an independent local hospice to provide specialist palliative care for the people of Great Yarmouth and Waveney.

The collaboration, which will initially run for three years, will support East Coast Hospice to develop its hospice services and new models of care in Great Yarmouth and Waveney by learning from St Helena and the care provided in north east Essex.

Mark Jarman-Howe, St Helena’s chief executive, said: “We are thrilled to be working in collaboration with East Coast Hospice. This last year has taught us how effective and beneficial it is to work together and share learnings, best practices, resources and the expertise of our staff; not only for us, but for the people we serve in our communities too.

“This joint working will allow us to develop new initiatives, services and projects that will benefit both charities; and to explore potential opportunities to jointly tender for and deliver services where appropriate.

“As always, our priority is to ensure our local community receive the best possible end of life care and bereavement support in their preferred place of care, whilst raising the vital funds we need to continue providing these services. We are looking forward to sharing our knowledge and expertise to support East Coast Hospice, in the only area in the country without a hospice, to achieve their vision of providing local end of life care to those who desperately need it.”

Jenny Beesley, chairman of East Coast Hospice, added: “We are proud and delighted to be forming a working relationship with St Helena Hospice. Their holistic way of working is breath-taking and gives us all immense pleasure to be able to work with them.

“The time has come when hospices must work together and share our resources.”

To find out more about East Coast Hospice, please visit eastcoasthospice.org.uk