Page 2 - Ashgate Hospicecare News: December 2019

When the hospice was first opened we had three bedded bays built which have not changed over the last 30 years. However, the needs of the patients that now come into the hospice have changed dramatically.
Dr Sarah Parnacott, Consultant in Palliative Medicine
The Problem
In 2015, Ashgate Hospicecare was awarded an overall rating of ‘Outstanding’ from the Care Quality Commission. The report stated that the hospice provides high quality, safe and innovative care. Patients, their families and carers were highly complementary and satisfied with the care given, which they often described as excellent, exceptional or outstanding.
However, our hospice building was far from outstanding. The bays remained unchanged for 30 years and were in desperate need of renovation. They were cramped, dated, dark, draughty and institutionalised. The Clinical Commissioning Group agreed that the bays were not fit for purpose due to the impact they had on respect and dignity. We wanted to do something about this.
Karen Walker, Ward Manager
“We needed to do something urgently to keep families together and provide patients with the privacy and dignity they deserve.”
My team and I do everything that we can to give our patients the best care. That is why it was upsetting to see how the three bays were compromising their privacy and dignity and denying them essential private time with their loved ones when it matters most.
Earlier this year, a lady was admitted to the Inpatient Unit who desperately wanted to stay at home with her three young children. She came to the hospice because she needed specialist, round the clock hospice care. Unfortunately, the only bed available was in a bay with two other patients, and although her children, husband and family could visit her at any time, she was clearly very anxious. She worried that her children would disrupt the other patients or even be upset by what they would witness. There was no space for her children to bring their toys or play and they struggled to sit around her bed. She wanted to make the most of every single moment she spent with her children and leave them with as many happy memories as she could, but that precious ‘mummy time’ was almost impossible in the bay.
After three days, a single bedroom became available. The family had the privacy they needed to be just that, a family making the most of the time they had left together. We know that for her, being a mum meant the world, and she wanted to be a mummy until the end.
I have seen this kind of situation numerous times. Our patients matter so much to us and what is important to them is important to us.
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