Theme: Our care and services

Staff from St Ann’s embarked on a trip to evaluate suggested furnishings and fabric textures for the new hospice building in Heald Green. 

Members of staff who attended were from various teams across the hospice including clinical, rehab, maintenance, and the Being You Centre. They attended a site visit at Shackletons Contract Furniture for Care Homes & Senior Living in Dewsbury. 

It is important that staff from various sectors across the hospice have a chance to test and evaluate any suggested furnishings to ensure they will be of the best benefit for patients and family. 

Being You Centre nurse, Doreen O’Hara attended the site visit and was impressed by what she saw. 

“It was really fabulous. It was beneficial to get a taste of the potential furnishings on offer, and to have a factory tour, so we could get a better idea of what we are looking for,” Doreen said. 

“So, seeing the process of it being made was really good. We were also able to understand other aspects such as fire safety and infection control of the furnishings on offer, so it adds another layer of health and safety,” she added. 

The interior design of the new hospice is being spearheaded by AXI Studio. Founder and creative director, Sarah de Freitas was there on the day to show furnishings and textures her and her team had picked out which was beneficial according to Doreen. 

“She had pinpointed out some wonderful furnishings, but it was also known that we were allowed to add our input. We ended up making a couple of changes on the day,” Doreen said. 

“I work for the Being You Centre, and we often have patients coming in, in group settings and for other reasons. It’s important that we get them the right comfortable seating as they are often seated for two or three hours. We spotted a chair in the background that suited this purpose and were able to make a change.” 

According to Doreen, it is incredibly important to create the right environment for patients in the new hospice. 

“They need a space where they can relax, they need a very open, clean space. Because we often work in a group setting, we need a nice, big, open space. Comfort is key. We looked at making sure there is enough space in each area as you don’t want people invading your personal space, and it needs to look nice because it is new and exciting, and it’s lovely for our patients,” Doreen added. 

One of the major features of the new St Ann’s Hospice building is the creation of more space, allowing different clinical departments to conduct their work with more ease in a spacious, comfortable environment for all. 

Joanne Rhodes is the Patient Family Support Team Leader at St Ann’s Hospice and says that it can be difficult to identify an area for when the staff need to conduct private talks or consultations with patients or families. 

There are only a small number of side rooms available at the current Heald Green hospice and when these are unavailable it leads to staff having discussions with patients or family members in wards where other people may be present. 

“You can always draw a curtain around for some privacy but someone else in the room can still hear,” Joanne said. 

The new hospice, expected to open in autumn of 2025, is designed to be a bright, open space, that doesn’t look like a typical clinical setting but rather a more comfortable environment. Joanne says this will really help with the wellbeing of patients and families. 

“It’ll also be beneficial to the work force and their wellbeing, as they will be working in a more comfortable, modern environment with greater accessibility to rooms within the inpatient unit. 

The Patient and Family Support team oversees counselling, social work, and the chaplaincy service. The Let’s Talk team under the Patient and Family Support team provide therapeutic and counselling support to patients, relatives, and loved ones. 

St Ann’s Hospice is celebrating World Social Work Day by showcasing the importance of our social work staff. 

World Social Work Day takes place, today, March 18 and this year’s theme is ‘Strengthening Intergenerational Solidarity for Enduring Wellbeing’, which emphasises the importance of caring and respecting across generations to build strong societies, sustain the environment, and share wisdom for a better future. 

The social workers at St Ann’s are a part of our Patient and Family Support Team and include social workers Carina Woods, Jo Brown, and Helen Barnfield. The team is led by Joanne Rhodes. 

Social workers at St Ann’s conduct holistic assessments of patients and their loved ones, providing social, spiritual, emotional, financial and practical support. 

They explore emotional complexities with patients and families in safe spaces, they help with advance care planning, work closely with the Multi-Disciplinary Team, and they access support and resources from partner agencies and organisations to meet individual wishes and needs. 

Patient and Family Support Team Leader, Joanne Rhodes commented. 

“The role of the social worker within a hospice is integral to achieving positive and meaningful outcome for patients and their families. Carina, Jo, Helen and I provide emotional and practical support, advocacy and guidance to patients and their families during a profoundly difficult time.

“We help the patients with end-of-life planning and our presence in the hospice helps to ease some of the challenges involved with end of life care to optimise opportunity for quality time together,” she said. 

Amanda Walton (Clayton) shares her experience with St Ann’s Hospice since her mum, Jackie, was admitted in 2018. She speaks about how grief counselling offered by St Ann’s after her mum died guided her through her loss. A service she didn’t realise was offered by the hospice.  

Jackie was admitted to St Ann’s Hospice for pain management. Amanda didn’t know much about St Ann’s at the time and found the idea of her mum entering a hospice to be quite daunting.  

“At the time, we all thought, like a lot of people do, that she was going into hospice and that’s it, it’s end of life. Without any experience, I feel that’s what people think a hospice is,” Amanda said.  

“She was in hospital a long time, she was really struggling. She was petrified at the idea of entering a hospice, for her she felt that she was going in and she wasn’t coming out.  

Amanda reached out to St Ann’s a few weeks after her mum had passed away, she realised she was struggling and needed help getting back to day-to-day normality.  

“Grief counselling was something they mentioned when we were in the hospice after mum had died. I rang St Ann’s when I was struggling and straight away, they got me in for sessions.  

“It helped me come to terms with mum’s illness when she was first diagnosed, how I was feeling afterwards, and dealing with her loss. What it also did for me was it helped me grieve for my dad who had passed away a long time before mum. I didn’t grieve for him properly at the time. I just got swept up with life and never fully came to terms with my emotions.  

“I wouldn’t be as strong as I am today, I wouldn’t be able to get on with my life like I do without those sessions at St Ann’s,” Amanda said.  

Amanda and the wider Clayton family have raised approximately £55,255.25 for St Ann’s since Jackie passed away, she encourages others to consider donating to the cause or leaving a gift in their will for the hospice.  

“You don’t know the care St Ann’s gives until you’ve had that experience. It’s not the big things, it’s the little things. It’s the manicures and haircuts they give to patients, it’s the welcome you receive once you walk in the door, nothing is ever too much trouble. Without people giving, the hospice wouldn’t be able to provide for their patients,” Amanda said. 

If you need any more information, St Ann’s are here to help. Please contact Heather, the In-Memory and Legacy Fundraiser on 0161 498 3631 or email legacies@sah.org.uk.