EVERY October, hospices across the country come together to celebrate Hospice Care Week.

Led by national charity Hospice UK, the campaign week is a chance to recognise, and raise awareness of, the services hospices provide to their communities.

The campaign week takes place from Monday to Sunday, October 5-11, and the theme is ‘this is what it takes’.

The team at St Richard’s will join colleagues from more than 200 hospices across the UK to take part in the campaign.

We will give an insight into what goes in to running our services, alongside highlighting the funding and resources needed to deliver our care to patients and families.

For example, did you know that every day the team at St Richard’s has more than 1,100 people under its care – at the hospice, in people’s own homes or in the community?

Worcester News:

Debbie Westwood, care director

Last year, our teams cared for 3,416 patients, loved ones, and bereaved people across Worcestershire.

Against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is more important than ever to raise awareness of the importance of end-of-life care and support services.

The pandemic has meant we have adapted the way we care for patients and loved ones, with many services being delivered virtually using telephone and video calls.

For example, over four months of lockdown, our Living Well Team provided 329 hours of patient-centred support over the phone and 60 hours using video calls.

Of course, none of this would be possible without the incredible support of our community raising money to fund our services.