New St Ann’s Hospice will allow clinical teams to work with more space
Joanne Rhodes, Patient Family Support Team Leader at St Ann's Hospice discusses how comfortable and welcoming environments will be vital to her team's work
One of the major features of the new St Ann’s Hospice building is the creation of more space, allowing different clinical departments to conduct their work with more ease in a spacious, comfortable environment for all.
Joanne Rhodes is the Patient Family Support Team Leader at St Ann’s Hospice and says that it can be difficult to identify an area for when the staff need to conduct private talks or consultations with patients or families.
There are only a small number of side rooms available at the current Heald Green hospice and when these are unavailable it leads to staff having discussions with patients or family members in wards where other people may be present.
“You can always draw a curtain around for some privacy but someone else in the room can still hear,” Joanne said.
People can become understandably very upset and quite emotional so it’s important in the new hospice that we have comfortable, confidential spaces for those discussions Joanne Rhodes, Patient Family Support Team Leader
The new hospice, expected to open in autumn of 2025, is designed to be a bright, open space, that doesn’t look like a typical clinical setting but rather a more comfortable environment. Joanne says this will really help with the wellbeing of patients and families.
“It’ll also be beneficial to the work force and their wellbeing, as they will be working in a more comfortable, modern environment with greater accessibility to rooms within the inpatient unit.
The Patient and Family Support team oversees counselling, social work, and the chaplaincy service. The Let’s Talk team under the Patient and Family Support team provide therapeutic and counselling support to patients, relatives, and loved ones.