Hospice gives thanks for end-of-life service grant

Treetops Hospice has thanked the backers of a nursing service set up during the pandemic to allow end-of-life patients to die at home.

A £213,480 grant, jointly given by Derby and Burton Hospitals Charity and NHS Charities Together, helped fund the Treetops Hospice Roaming Nurse Service for 15 months, from January 2021 to March this year.

Each evening, the Treetops Roaming Nurse team – made up of a registered nurse and healthcare assistant – responded to calls for assistance from patients referred to the charity’s Hospice at Home service and Treetops nurses.

During the 15 months of funding, Treetops Roaming Nurses cared for over 630 patients.

There were also over 3,300 welfare and support calls made between the nursing team and families during this time.

Recently, Jill Mathews, chief officer, and Tim Diggle, operations director, from Derby and Burton Hospitals Charity, visited Treetops, along with Ellie Orton chief executive of NHS Charities Together, where they were presented with a framed hospice nurse tunic as a thank you from the charity.

Jill said: “Receiving the Treetops nurse tunic as a recognition of the grant provided by Derby and Burton Hospitals to fund the Roaming Nurse Service is a wonderful way to say ‘thank you’ to our generous supporters, kind-hearted volunteers and the charity team.

“All of these individuals and organisations have helped provide this very valuable service to local people when they need it most.”

The Roaming Nurse Service was set up by Treetops as part of its emergency response to the Covid-19 pandemic and to help alleviate unprecedented pressures on the NHS at the time.

An initial grant from Barclays Foundation and a car loan from Toyota Manufacturing UK (BH) helped kickstart service.

Phil Shreeve, director of clinical services at Treetops, said: “We are very grateful to Derby and Burton Hospitals Charity and NHS Charities Together for this significant grant, which helped us continue to provide our vital Roaming Nurse Service.

“We know that an increasing number of people wish to die in their own home, surrounded by their loved ones.

“Our Roaming Nurse Service is fundamental to be able to offer patients this choice when they reach the very end of life.”