Monday 21 May 2012
21 October 2011
This month Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall celebrates twenty years of delivering high quality end of life and long-term care for hundreds of people in the local community. A big celebration event was held at the hospice on Thursday 20 October when more than one hundred people attended the anniversary celebrations from staff, volunteers and representatives across Sue Ryder to long-standing supporters.
Philip Ball, Palliative Care Services Manager at the hospice, commented: “The event was an incredible success. This is testimonial to the great work our staff do every day to support people with complex care needs as well as their family and friends. Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice has a long and distinguished history of providing end of life and long-term care for people living with life-limiting conditions including cancer and non-cancer conditions such as renal failure, heart failure and motor neurone disease.
We have been serving the Peterborough community for twenty years, over this period we have cared for about 7,500 people. Referrals to our services also come from other areas including Lincolnshire, Rutland, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and as far as Norfolk.
Most people believe that someone who is cared for in a hospice is going to die there, but this is not a true picture of hospice care. Sixty percent of the patients who come to Thorpe Hall will leave after a short stay. Our aim is to enable people to return home with their family and friends whenever possible by assessing their care needs and helping them keep symptoms under control. The personal needs of each patient are at the heart of any decision taken about their care.
An important aspect of hospice care is that we don’t only look after the medical, emotional and spiritual needs of our patients, but we support their family and friends as well by offering for instance bereavement support when needed. Recently we have developed a specific programme to support children who have lost a parent”.
The recent children bereavement programme is just one of the examples of how the hospice’s services are evolving. Charlie Chimp, a three foot toy chimpanzee, is used in bereavement sessions with children. It has inspired a special workbook to help youngsters come to terms with what is happening by getting to know the hospice, its staff and what they are doing to help their relative or friend.
Philip added: “We also have a day centre opened from Monday to Friday for people with neurological conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis where service users can attend an array of activities. This gives their carers a chance to have a break from the demanding role of caring for a loved one, but also offers service users the opportunity to get out and mix with other people. Keep busy and active is vital to maintain quality of life. We also offer respite care, usually people will stay with us for one or two weeks.
The priceless support of our volunteers and the generous donations of the local community are vital to enable us to continue caring for people at a very vulnerable time of their life. I would like to thank our staff, volunteers and the local community for making this possible. We aim to provide the best quality care so that people in our care can live their life to the full for as long as possible”.
If you would like to know more about the work of Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall and listen to some testimonials from people who had first hand experience of the care provided by the hospice please click on this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyiiKM9MqAA
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