Our Head of Practice has been nominated for a special award!
Our Head of Practice Development, Jude, has been nominated for a special award to acknowledge her work in raising awareness of the importance of hospice care to communities across Greater Manchester.
Jude Holt, who is Head of Practice Development at St Ann’s, has been shortlisted for a Greater Manchester Health & Care Champion Award in the Inclusion Champion category, for the work she’s been doing with her team to reach out to communities across the region.
I’m honoured to have been nominated for the award, and I was so surprised when I received the letter from the Mayor Andy Burnham and Jon Rouse from the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership letting me know I had been shortlisted. There’s so much great work going on across Greater Manchester in the health and social care fields that it’s amazing to have the work we’ve been doing at the hospice acknowledged in this way. Jude Holt, Head of Practice Development
Jude and her team’s work has included a collaboration with Springhill Hospice to deliver a series of innovative lectures to raise awareness of the importance of palliative and end of life care provision. The lectures were attended by hundreds of health care professionals, as well as people working with a variety of communities who have not traditionally found it easy to access hospice care. This included reaching out to people with mental health needs, those who are homeless, in prison, have learning disabilities, are transgender, or have dementia, as well as local BAME populations, travelling families and those with long-term conditions – all with the aim of raising awareness of how hospices may be able to help them if they have a life-limiting illness.
It’s so important to us that as many local patients as possible who might benefit from our care can do so, whatever their background and whatever community they are from. Hospice care can benefit anyone with a life-limiting illness, right from the point of diagnosis, through treatment, and beyond, and we’re so proud that the work Jude and her team have been doing to help dispel myths and improve access for communities across Greater Manchester has been recognised in this way. We’re really looking forward to seeing the results of the awards when they’re announced in July, but are already so pleased that Jude’s work has led to an increase in the understanding of the benefits of the specialist care hospices can provide patients and their families. Innovation is something that’s important to all of us at St Ann’s. As we approach our 50th anniversary in 2021, it’s vital we continue to develop our services and reach out even further into the local communities we serve to ensure we can continue caring for patients and their families for many generations to come. Eamonn O'Neal, Chief Executive of St Ann’s
