We are finalists for a National Team Award!
Following the launch of our innovative new Frailty Service earlier on this year, Garden House Hospice Care has been announced as a finalist for this year's Palliative and End of Life Care Awards in London this June.
The Palliative Care Team Award celebrates outstanding teamwork in the support of people facing the end of life in a social care or hospice setting. Recognising exceptional teams who have made a real impact in improving the overall quality of life for individuals facing serious illness, demonstrating collaboration between different stakeholders; acute hospitals, community health professionals, care providers and hospices.
A first for hospices, the Frailty Service was launched on the 2nd January this year to address inequalities in access to hospice care, supporting patients living with frailty earlier on in their journey, enabling them to live and die well whilst avoiding admissions to hospital. In the first few months of the service, this is exactly what Garden House Hospice Care have delivered - 93 patients were identified in the local hospital by the Hospice Frailty Nurse, with 66 cared for at home by their Community teams and 27 cared for within their Inpatient Unit in Letchworth - saving a total of 774 bed days in the local hospital this winter.
Lisa Hunt is CEO at Garden House Hospice Care:
"It's a real honour and privilege to be a finalist for the Palliative Care Team Award at this year's Palliative & End of Life Care Awards. Our Hospice teams have worked with such commitment and care to support the innovation and delivery of our new Frailty Service and I'm incredibly proud of each and every one of them. To be recognised as a team nationally is no less than what our people deserve for putting our patients and their loved ones first 365 days a year.
"I would like to say a huge thank you to the Integrated Care Board for nominating us for this award. Their commitment in supporting us to make a difference has been an essential part in launching this new service.
"This award means a lot to us, and we look forward to celebrating our nomination at the ceremony in London this June. If we win it will be amazing, however, we are already winners here at the Hospice for having such an outstanding team.
"We are overwhelmed by the positive response from patients, their families and fellow healthcare professionals from across the system. This only confirms the need for the Frailty Service and tells me we have a lot more to do in the future. Our ambition was always to support people earlier on in their journey, and we are already planning our next steps to strengthen links in the community."
In addition to impressive results from the first few months of the Frailty Service, the launch of the new service has also had a positive impact on Garden House Hospice Care's already established services, with an increase in admissions to our Inpatient Unit and Community teams up by 68% in the first three months.
It costs Garden House Hospice Care £7.7 million every year to run our free services in North Hertfordshire, Stevenage and towns and villages in Central Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. As a charity, we need to raise £15,300 a day to keep our services running.
