St Nicholas Hospice Care has announced that it will reopen two of the beds on its Sylvan Ward; beds it was forced to temporarily close last year because of the global economic crisis.
The decision reversal is the result of, “both an amazing fundraising response from the community over the last year and a generous legacy donation which has helped our financial position”, Barbara Gale, Chief Executive, said.
Each bed costs £100,000 annually to run and they will be reopened in early summer after the recruitment of new nursing staff is completed.
The Board of Trustees and Senior Management Team were forced to make the difficult decision to temporarily close the beds in April 2009, as part of strategic cost saving measures actioned to counter a decline in regular donations.
During this time, patient care - for which St Nicholas Hospice Care is renowned - was delivered in a slightly different way, with more patients being cared for in the community and this increased home care will continue. The announcement will bring the total number of beds on the ward to 10.
"Thanks to people’s support and kindness, this is definitely good news"
Barbara Gale said: “Since we told the community we had to shut beds, we’ve been touched by the responses to help. Support has come from all quarters and in all forms - from the media and council representatives to nursery schools and toddler groups.
“Community groups have organised fundraising events, individuals have set up regular donations, visited our shops, and supported our newspapers appeals and businesses have offered a number of sponsorship packages.
“We are not out of the woods yet, we still need to raise £10,000 a day from the general public."
Recruitment for the ward nurses will begin immediately and anyone interested in applying should visit our Vacancies section for further details.
