Thames Hospice launches fundraising appeal to help cope with 'unprecedented demand'

Thames Hospice has launched an urgent fundraising appeal to help pay for more nursing assistants as it continues to face ‘unprecedented demand’.

The hospice said the occupancy level at its Windsor Road base is now 92 per cent, making it the busiest end-of-life care facility in the country.

The charity is now aiming to raise enough cash to fund five extra nursing assistants for its inpatient unit.

Each month, the additional staff will cost £10,365 and the hospice is hoping to attract enough donations to pay for six months of extra nursing support.

The charity said the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in people being unable to access healthcare or being reluctant to, leading to more terminal diagnoses and more people needing the hospice’s care and support.

Sister Anne Jones, head of the Inpatient Unit at Thames Hospice said: “I am so proud to work as part of an incredible team who, despite the greatest challenge in our history, have continued to provide compassionate care and support for some of the most vulnerable people in our community.

“Our nurses have a relentless workload and are always stretched; over the past month alone we have cared for more than 60 patients on our Inpatient Unit.

“But we still want every patient to feel like they are our top priority and that we have all the time in the world for them; that is what compassionate end-of-life care should be.

“The extra nursing support will relieve the extraordinary demands on nurses and enable us to help care for more local people who need and deserve the best hospice care.”

Thames Hospice created the new nursing assistant role last year to help ease the pressure on nurses during busy shifts on the inpatient unit.

The role is the first of its kind in the hospice sector.

Visit www.thameshospice.org.uk/help-anne to donate.