In our May update we shared that having carefully reviewed all our options that our trustees had approved a plan. We also shared that we would be consulting internally on these plans.

We have now completed our internal consultation and implemented the necessary changes to our service model to be confident that we have secured our future. To ensure this future service model is affordable and sustainable we have sadly said goodbye to some colleagues that we did not want to lose. In total there will be 11 redundancies, most of which were voluntary. This has been a tough and unsettling time for our staff, and we want to thank and commend them for their compassion, professionalism, and absolute commitment to maintaining the highest standards of care and support to patients and families throughout this period. 

Our new service model will involve:

• A focus on people with specialist palliative care needs. 
• Our 24/7 SinglePoint service will continue to offer advice to everyone on the My Care Choices Register, however the care coordination and case management of those with less specialist needs will be delivered by core NHS services.
• Our nursing and non-medical prescribing team will only visit those with specialist palliative care needs and those in symptom crisis who are in the last 3 months of life.
• The number of hospice beds in our inpatient unit will remain at 8. 
• We will provide 8 ‘beds’ in our specialist palliative care Virtual Ward, which provides medically led care in people’s own homes as an alternative to a hospital or hospice admission.
• Our community Clinical Nurse Specialist team will continue supporting people in their own homes and care homes.
• Our Home Ward service providing personal care in the home in the last weeks of life will continue.
• Our bereavement support service will continue with a greater focus on group support and the use of digital resources, with 1-1 counselling prioritised for those with the most complex needs.

We will continue to support everyone we are currently caring for. 

We wish to be open about the fact that we will not be doing some things we have done previously and therefore there will be some impact on colleagues in NHS primary care and community services.  However, even after these changes St Helena will continue to be one of the biggest hospices in the UK offering a wider range of services than most areas of the country. 

We remain hopeful that the Government and NHS will commit to a fairer and more sustainable funding model for hospices at some point. For now, we have done what was needed to protect the long-term future of local hospice care. As a result of making savings and investing to bring in new income we are now well placed to protect our services and respond to the challenges and opportunities that will undoubtedly arise over the next few years. Our fundraising, retail, lottery, and social enterprise activities continue to develop.

Thank you to everyone for your support during a challenging period. Please continue to support your local hospice as we look to the future with increasing confidence and hope.