Autumn is often a time for reflection, as the change in season provides an opportunity to take stock and think about the future.
It’s fitting then that Hospice Care Week falls from 5 to 11 October. Hospices use this opportunity to join forces with others throughout the United Kingdom in raising awareness about their vital work and campaigning for change.
The theme for Hospice Care Week 2015 is ‘connecting care’ and the special role hospices play in connecting with individuals and families, connecting with local communities and connecting people with each other. One in three people will be touched by hospice care at some point in their lives and every year hospices support around 360,000 people – 120,000 patients and 240,000 family members.
Since opening in 2003 Haven House has supported more than 600 families, providing high-quality palliative and holistic care for babies, children and young people who have life-limiting or life-threatening conditions across North and North East London, West Essex and East Hertfordshire.
Providing this care would not have been possible without the generous support of our local communities. Each year it costs £3.6 million to fully resource Haven House. The majority of our income comes from voluntary donations whereby individuals and groups raise funds through exciting and inspiring ways.
Hospices draw strength from the communities they serve. Haven House has been able to reach more children by collaborating with other hospices, particularly those involved in Children’s Hospices across London (CHaL), Great Ormond Street Hospital, clinical commissioning groups, local authorities and private sector providers.
We know from our existing families that caring for a child with complex health needs can put a significant strain on parents and siblings. That is why it is important to provide services that can ‘wrap around’ the entire family.
One of the biggest challenges that we face is making sure families can and have the confidence to access hospice care services in their local area.
It is still the case that many families fear that using a hospice is an acceptance that their child will not outlive them, and other families are so used to providing care themselves that they find it hard to accept the idea of respite. Yet hospices are here to support children as well as parents, siblings and the wider family.
Our Holistic Care Centre, which opened in September 2014, is a fantastic example of connecting care. The centre provides targeted social and health support to children, mums, dads, brothers and sisters through music and physiotherapy, social work, therapeutic yoga and nurse-led assessments.
The centre also means specialist children’s palliative care consultants from Great Ormond Street Hospital can use the facilities to meet with families locally. This means that families living in our area have less need to travel into central London with the disruption that this can cause.
Connecting care and working in partnership also has strategic benefits for the wider health and social care sector. At a time when there continues to be a national shortage of nursing staff greater collaboration ensures the sustainability of Haven House as we seek to utilise specialist nursing staff in the best possible way.
When hospices work together it can also have substantial financial benefits. The CHaL charity of the year partnership with BlackRock, a global asset management firm, which has been led by Haven House, shows that collaboration rather than competition within fundraising can achieve significant financial returns and long-lasting corporate staff engagement for the hospice sector.
All of these different streams of partnerships mean that it is an incredibly exciting and rewarding time to be part of Haven House and the hospice movement, but we can only continue to grow and help even more life-limited children and families with your continued support and generosity.
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