The charity, based in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, has been providing compassionate inpatient and community hospice care to its community for 35 years, and is now one of the largest and busiest hospices in the UK.
The Queen first opened Thames Hospice on 9 November 1987 and today’s historic occasion marks Her Majesty’s fourth visit to the charity. Accompanied by HRH The Princess Royal, The Queen met and chatted to volunteers, staff and Pat White, a patient currently receiving care on the Inpatient Unit.
Her Majesty and Her Royal Highness were joined on their visit by HM’s Lord-Lieutenant of the Royal County of Berkshire, Mr James Puxley, Thames Hospice Chair of Trustees Mr Jonathan Jones and Chief Executive Officer Mrs Debbie Raven.
Jonathan Jones said:
“Today’s momentous visit builds upon a long-held association between The Royal Family and Thames Hospice. It is a huge privilege to welcome Her Majesty to officially open our facility and show how the charity continues to flourish 35 years on from The Queen’s very first visit.”
During the royal visit, Her Majesty officially unveiled a plaque to celebrate the opening of the new Hospice. The plaque will be permanently mounted at the heart of the Hospice, to mark The Queen’s long-term support of the charity.
The Princess Royal also had the opportunity to tour the Hospice, meeting nursing colleagues and patients on the Inpatient Unit.
Debbie Raven added: “It was a delight to welcome Her Royal Highness on her first visit to Thames Hospice. We are so grateful that she took the time to speak to a number of patients, as well as many colleagues in our frontline teams.
“Our official opening marks the start of an exciting new era for Thames Hospice and our facility will continue to offer vital support to everyone who needs palliative and end-of-life care now and for generations to come.”
Recognising the urgent need to provide more care to more people, the Hospice’s Board of Trustees and Senior Management Team, led by Debbie Raven, launched an ambitious five- year strategy focussing on its expansion plans. In 2017 Thames Hospice was granted planning permission to build a new £22 million state-of-the-art facility on an eight-acre site by Bray Lake.
After more than four years of meticulous planning and construction, coupled with a challenging 12 months during the coronavirus pandemic, Thames Hospice welcomed its first patients and visitors to its new facility on 12 October 2020, creating a centre of excellence for modern hospice care. The new facility means that Thames Hospice is able to provide world-class care and support to twice as many people at every stage of their life-limiting condition now and for generations to come.
The charity has doubled the volume of services in both activity and variety, delivering care and support to an average of 850 people per month on the Inpatient Unit, in people’s homes and through its living well, therapy and counselling services.
Debbie added: “None of this would be possible without the incredible support from our community who fund over half of the £13 million needed each year to run our services, so that care can remain free at the point of access for patients and families.”
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About Thames Hospice
Proudly serving the community for more than 35 years, we are a leading UK Hospice providing inpatient and community palliative and end-of-life care services to people aged 16 and over across East Berkshire and South Buckinghamshire. Treating everyone with kindness and compassion and providing a safe and caring environment is at the heart of everything we do to support those facing a life-limiting illness.
We are committed to delivering and demonstrating excellence and the highest quality nursing, medical and therapeutic care within our Hospice and in patients’ homes, supporting the physical, social and psychological needs of our patients and their loved ones. Our highly skilled doctors and nurses work with patients and their families to develop a complete programme of care tailored to their needs, treating everyone with dignity and respect.
We believe in empowering the people we care for and offer a wide range of services to help them feel well for as long as possible. Alongside our inpatient and community nursing services, we provide care to support people’s wellbeing through our ‘Living Well’ service, including counselling support, complementary therapy, physiotherapy and Lymphoedema services. We also have a 24-hour telephone service available to patients’ carers and healthcare professionals to provide guidance on symptom control, practical advice and emotional support.
Our services are free of charge to all who need us, thanks to the generosity of our amazing community and organisations, as well as our 700 incredible volunteers who give their time to support the best possible end of life care for local people. It costs more than £13 million every year to keep our Hospice running and we rely on charitable support for over 50% of the funds we need annually to provide our services 365 days a year to the people who need us most.
On 11 October 2021 Thames Hospice was rated as ‘outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission, following a recent inspection of its state-of-the-art facility by Bray Lake.
If you would like to make a donation, access our services or become a volunteer, please visit our website at http://www.thameshospice.org.uk
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