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Day Hospice Refurb Plans Get Funding Boost

April 9, 2010

Plans to refurbish a key part of Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice moved a step closer to fruition this week with the announcement of a major funding boost.

The Hospice, which provides care to people across Birmingham and Sandwell, has been awarded £395,000 to overhaul its Day Hospice at its Selly Park base.

The money from the Department of Health (DoH) will create a brighter, more welcoming unit, affording greater dignity to patients with life limiting illnesses.

Nursing staff say the project will revolutionise the treatment patients receive at the Day Hospice, which provides space for 20 people to attend each day and offers a range of therapies from art sessions to physio and reflexology.

Another aspect of the development will be a new user-friendly information and reception area, helping patients, their loved ones and carers when they first arrive at the Hospice.

A capital appeal to raise the remaining funds of the £724,000 project will be launched soon with the aim of completing the building work by March 31, 2011.

Birmingham St Mary’s Chief Executive Tina Swani was delighted by the announcement.

“We are absolutely over the moon with the success of this bid for funding. The Hospice was lucky to receive DoH funding to refurbish its In-Patient Unit in 2008 and once this work was completed, it became obvious that the Day Hospice was in need of a facelift too.

“To be able to create an almost brand-new Day Hospice with brighter and more flexible spaces, which can offer an enhanced range of treatments and therapies, will mean so much not only to patients and their relatives but also to the people of Birmingham as a whole.

“Over the course of the next year we will work tirelessly to generate the rest of the money needed for this vital refurbishment work.”

Day Hospice Manager Kate Palmer added: “The nursing team is extremely pleased with this news. It means we’ll be able to offer much more user-friendly facilities to patients.  

“We currently offer various creative therapies and we aim to expand these once the work is completed. For example, part of the plan involves expanding the garden terrace so that it can be used by around eight people instead of the two it can accommodate at the moment.

“The reception will be much better as it will be more separate from the Day Hospice, granting patients greater privacy. The doors will also be replaced by automatic doors, making it easier for people to enter the building.”

The Day Hospice plays a vital role in allowing people to live with their condition and enjoy a better quality of life supported by specialist, trained staff. Additionally, it gives people the chance to meet others with similar conditions.

The money awarded to Birmingham St Mary’s is one of 123 grants awarded by the Department of Health as part of a £40 million funding package for capital grants for hospices around the UK.

The funding supports the Department’s End of Life Care Strategy, which was launched in July 2008 in an attempt to improve the quality of care for all adults approaching the end of their life.

National hospice body Help the Hospices played a key role in helping to allocate the funds. Grant projects begin in April this year and are to be completed by the end of March 2011.