To receive a presentation from Pam Court, Chief Executive Officer, Saint Francis Hospice.
Minutes:
Pam Court, the Chief Executive Officer of St. Francis Hospice thanked the committee for its invitation to speak at the meeting and added that she was happy to attend other meetings or for Members to visit the hospice.
The majority of the hospice’s work consisted of its outreach services. The hospice offered services across Barking & Dagenham, Havering, Redbridge and the Brentwood and Abridge areas of Essex. The hospice ran an education centre specialising in palliative care training and employed a full range of healthcare professionals. Consultant cover could be accessed on a 24:7 basis via Queen’s Hospital. The hospice was a charity run predominantly by volunteers.
Demand for all the hospice’s services had risen with for example use of the telephone triage service having tripled since 2006/07 and demand for bereavement support at the hospice having risen by 25%. The average length of stay in the hospice’s 18-bed inpatient unit was 13 days. While approximately two thirds of patients did die in the hospice, around one third went home after care and treatment.
Referrals were made to the hospice from Queen’s and also Basildon and Broomfield Hospitals. There was also an increasing number of referrals from care homes. The hospice triage team currently operated 9 am – 5 pm Monday to Friday but the hospice wished to make this a 24-hour service. The hospice at home service was also very important as it allowed support for people in the last two weeks of life to die at home. This service was also seeing an increase in demand. The service could be mobilised within one shift. The service did not however currently run in Redbridge.
Key current issues for the hospice included a lack of coordination in community services and a withdrawal of support from Marie Curie nurses. Coordination with the health and social care sectors was also variable and it was felt by the Chief Executive Officer that district nurses needed better training.
The hospice received 38% of its funding from the NHS and fundraised the remaining 62% (approximately £5 million per year). The hospice was seen as a quality provider with an outstanding reputation and the Chief Executive Officer felt that better coordination with other providers was essential as was more educational work on palliative care in care homes.
It was accepted that GPs had mixed knowledge of palliative care and this was a challenge. The hospice’s palliative care consultants could meet with GPs. A breakdown of referrals by area and by diagnosis of patient would be passed to the Committee. It was reiterated that the hospice was open to all groups and cultures and the Chief Executive Officer was happy to meet with hard to reach groups and discuss this. The hospice had rebranded its logo etc. and the Chief Executive Officer would consider a change of the hospice name over the longer term although for example St. Joseph’s Hospice in Hackney was not seen as a religious organisation.
It was explained that, although the hospice only had 18 beds, the strong level of services in the community meant that this was a sufficient number. It was agreed that more contact with practice managers could improve knowledge of the hospice’s services among GPs. The H4NEL programme director agreed that commissioners were keen to work together with the hospice.
It was agreed that the Chief Executive Officer would also try to provide for the Committee a breakdown of the hospice’s funding by Council area. Learning was shared via the hospice network and it was clarified that St. Francis was the second largest hospice in the country. The Chief Executive Officer had also met with the Haven House Children’s Hospice and had been considering the transition from child to adult hospices.
The Chairman thanked the officer her presentation and input to the meeting.