Hospice inpatient unit set to reopen by May as new doctors join team and virtual consultants go live

Cheers, tears and applause as announcement is made to staff

THE inpatient unit of a rural hospice which was closed earlier this year due to a shortage of staff is set to reopen by May 2020.

Bosses at St Mary’s Hospice have managed to recruit the speciality doctors they need to work alongside existing members of the team.

They will be supported from afar by a bank of digital consultants who are specialists in palliative care.

The news was announced to staff of the hospice today by chief executive Val Stangoe, who said: “There were cheers, tears and applause. It was such a nice way to start the Christmas period.

“It has felt over the last few weeks that we have had a hill to climb, but we have finally reached the top. There is still a lot of hard work ahead, and in the new year we will place our focus on that.

“But for now we are delighted to be in a position where we can say with confidence that we will be able to accept patients into the in-patient unit once again next year.”

The new structure at the hospice will see two speciality doctors supported by a medical officer, two advanced nurse practitioners and a team of nursing staff.

The consultant level support, rather than being provided in-house, will come from a company which has a team of consultants who will advise via digital conferencing channels or over the phone.

The hospice was the first in the UK to announce it was exploring such an option. The innovative approach will remove the need for an on-site medical director, a post the hospice had been unable to fill, despite an international search.

And it will, it is hoped, secure the longer-term future of in-patient care at the facility because, under the new arrangement, the frailty of a single senior person heading the unit is removed.

The hospice announced in September that it was to suspend admissions to its inpatient unit for an initial period of three months while it redoubled efforts to recruit a medical director.

While Plan A - to recruit that person and reopen - did not come to fruition, the new approach is widely considered to be a more sustainable model of hospice care for the future.

The new doctors are set to join the St Mary’s team in April and after a period of familiarisation, the unit will be reopened.

Val said: “As soon as we have the new system up and running we will be in a position to accept inpatients, although we will need to carefully assess the more complex of cases to ensure we can properly manage them.

“Once things have settled down I feel confident it will be a case of as we were with regards to admissions.”

Notes to editors

This press release was issued on behalf of St Mary’s Hospice by 32West.

All media inquiries in the first instance should be directed to James Higgins on 01229 808 306 or by email james@32west.co.uk.

You can also contact Jonathan Lee jonathan@32west.co.uk or Caroline Barber caroline@32west.co.uk on the same number.

Val Stangoe is available for media interviews by appointment.