Hospice launches new service for the community

Stafford charity, Katharine House Hospice, opens its new Therapy and Wellbeing centre to the public

After being closed for three years due to the pandemic and renovations, the eagerly anticipated
launch saw hundreds of people gather over two days for a behind-the-scenes tour of the revamped
centre.

Mayor Andy Cooper and wife Judy, Councillor Jeremy Pert and Councillor Ann Edgeller, patients,
family members, funders, staff, volunteers, trustees, healthcare providers and community
organisations joined together to celebrate the opening.
An old building in much need of renovation has been transformed with new clinical rooms, social
space and stunning gardens, with the centre offering high quality, personalised care.
Katharine House Hospice’s CEO, Richard Soulsby, said: “Thank you to everyone. It has been a difficult
time over the last few years with the pandemic and our teams responded with tremendous
versatility to adapt the services we provided.
“Our inpatient and community care continued yet we had to close this unit down on 16 March 2020
and the service continued online.
“Today it feels like we are getting back on an even keel, exemplified by this building and new service
being opened today to welcome back families from Mid Staffordshire who need our care.”
Katharine House Hospice’s outpatient care lead, Cathy Browning, said: “After being closed for three
years and running our service mostly online and on the phone, it was simply amazing to see the
doors open and familiar faces again.
“And it was a real pleasure to see some of our most dedicated volunteers who have been helping us
since the charity’s inception in 1989 but haven’t been able to support us since the centre closed
three years ago.
“We want to be there for every local family when they need us and the team cannot wait to see our
patients and provide the very best in palliative care for free, when families need it.”
Katharine House Hospice’s director of care, David Fletcher, said: “We want to thank everyone for
supporting our vision to provide better palliative care for the people of Stafford and the surrounding
areas.
“Throughout the pandemic we continued to care for patients in their homes and on our ward,
however it will be heartening to see our patients come back to our centre after it being closed for so
long.
“It was fantastic to welcome the Mayor and his wife to the prelaunch as well as all our funders,
hardworking volunteers, staff, trustees and all the organisations we work alongside in the
community.”

For almost 35 years the hospice has provided expert, compassionate care to families for free.
Yet when the pandemic hit, the hospice was one of the first to adopt an almost virtual support and
care service with traditional day service and outpatient care being run online and on the phone.
This proved to provide a more flexible approach for patients and provided help to wider range of
patients than ever before.
After extensive consultation with the community in 2021, it was realised that there was a need for a
more flexible service providing quick and easy access to specialist end of life care services.
The charity set about to adapt its support to suit the community better and be there for more
families going through one of the most distressing times of life.
The more flexible service delivery model means people needing help can arrange support to suit
them. Patients maintain their independence for longer, are more in control of managing their
condition and can access care at better times to suit them.
The charity will offer a range of courses and clinics to help people manage their conditions and
symptoms. And on hand to help are a team of doctors, palliative nurse specialists, nurses, healthcare
assistants, clinical nurse specialists focusing on lymphoedema care, complementary therapists,
physiotherapist and occupational therapists, counsellors, spiritual care leaders and family support
workers.
Mr Fletcher added: “With tens of thousands of people with a palliative diagnosis in our region yet
only a small percent receiving our care, we want to help more families who need our care.
“Between them, our team have hundreds of years’ experience in palliative care and our highly skilled
team of palliative specialists support patients and their loved ones to live more independently and
we can do this from day one of a palliative diagnosis.
“Our expert teams pride themselves on having the time to care and deliver this to an exceptional
standard.
“What people might not know is that our counselling and emotional support for patients and family
members continues to be there for as long as people need it, and we can offer advice, even if people
do not wish to receive treatment.
“Our expectations are that the renovated Therapy and Wellbeing centre will enable us to provide
services to support many more people in our community.”