HOSPICE DESIGN
needs of its patients, their families, the community, and hospice staff and volunteers, the building design incorporated a commercial kitchen, day facilities, and an Education and Conference Centre, which enables the Hospice to train other healthcare professionals in good end-of-life care. The Bistro opens daily, offering freshly cooked food and Saturday morning brunches and Sunday lunch, and is going from strength to strength, with the quality of the food at affordable prices well received by diners. The Hair Salon, ‘Salon HD’, provides a number of complimentary hair and nail appointments to patients each week, alongside appointments to paying customers. The Hospice is able to raise valuable funds through these avenues.
Commissioned income
While the Hospice building itself received no government funding, approximately half of the Charity’s funding for annual running costs currently comes from commissioned income from the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). The Hospice has always benefitted from strong relationships with – and support from - the local community, which contributes the remainder of its income by raising funds in a number of ways, including donating to the Hospice’s shops, participating in events, taking on personal challenges, holding ‘fundraisers’, or leaving a gift in their Will. The community continues to be incredibly supportive nearly three years on from the opening of the new building.
Did the project enhance the local landscape/streetscape? The setting is green, leafy, and tranquil, and the building fits sympathetically into the landscape. The project has also enhanced the local landscape, with the introduction of more trees and planting to
The biggest design challenge was that the Hospice had to ‘have the standards of a hospital without feeling like one’.
increase biodiversity within the area. A core element of the design was that the outside space is as important as the inside space. Every patient has windows and patio doors, providing a direct link to the outside; this was considered essential to ensure that patients have options to choose from when deciding where to spend their time.
The planting of the soft landscaping was carried out by various community groups and local corporates, and plants were donated by Scotsdales, the local garden centre. Arthur’s Shed - a studio room funded by a gift left in a Will – is a focal point in the Hospice’s landscaped gardens, offering an alternative community space where people from the wider community can meet, socialise, and take in activities.
Public/community access improved The site of the Hospice is now within easy access of Addenbrooke’s, an acute hospital, which has helped with increasing partnership working and creating seamless care pathways, while
maintaining and creating a sense of tranquillity, safety, and independent identity. With such a practical layout and an appetite to collaborate with others in mutually beneficial ways, the Hospice now hosts the Motor Neurone Disease clinic. The clinic meets at the hospice weekly, and although not run by Arthur Rank Hospice Charity, has been a welcome addition. The Hospice cares for people with a host of life-limiting illnesses, not only those with cancer, so is pleased to welcome this group of patients and offer them support and a gentle introduction to the Hospice’s services.
The Hospice can be accessed from the neighbouring Park and Ride, and while patients and their visitors can access free parking on site, staff, volunteers, and Education and Conference Centre delegates, are requested to park in the Park and Ride free of charge. In a city notorious for high parking charges, this easy access to complimentary parking adds great value to the community, and reduces stress and anxiety for both patients and visitors.
User reactions The facilities are ‘more aligned to a hotel than a clinical setting’. 56 Health Estate Journal August 2019
The reaction to the scheme from staff, patients, families, and visitors, has been overwhelmingly positive. Dr Lynn Morgan, who oversaw the planning and build during her nine years as CEO, before retiring in March this year, said: “The new Hospice is light, airy, and modern. We were hoping to get a hospice which would raise people’s spirits, and I believe LSI has definitely achieved this. For my colleagues, it creates a safe, efficient working space, which enables the team to care for our patients and respect their dignity to the highest level.” That positive view is shared by Carly Love, the hospice’s inpatient unit manager, also known as its ward matron. She said: “The Hospice is a place where families feel welcome and comfortable. This creates an environment which gives
©Andrew Wilson Photography
©Andrew Wilson Photography
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