Saint Francis Hospice gets £1,021,405 from the NHS for a rapid team to keep dying patients out of hospital, 8am to 8pm daily. Its Strictly night raised £52,000.
Saint Francis Hospice in Havering-atte-Bower has been given £1,021,405 by the NHS to set up a rapid-response team for people near the end of life. The aim is to reach patients at home when their condition takes a turn, before an ambulance and an A&E trolley become the only option.
The new Hospice Response Service will cover Havering, Barking and Dagenham and Redbridge. Once it is fully staffed it will run from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week. The hospice announced the funding on 29 October.
The same week, the hospice said its Strictly Saint Francis dance night had raised £52,000.
What the new service will do
The money comes from NHS North East London, the NHS body that commissions health services in this part of London. It is in place until the end of the 2027/28 financial year.
According to the hospice, the service will:
- send a specialist team quickly when a patient’s condition is becoming unstable
- step in earlier to head off a crisis, so more people can stay at home if they want to
- work with local hospitals to get patients discharged and avoid unnecessary admissions
- have its own team of clinical nurse specialists, healthcare assistants and medical support
It builds on the hospice’s Enhanced Hospice at Home service, which already cares for patients in their own homes.
It is not running in full yet. The hospice says it will start in phases from late autumn. The full team should be in place in the new year, subject to recruitment.
Why the hospice says it is needed
Grazina Berry, the hospice’s chief executive, said too many dying patients end up in hospital because help at home comes too slowly.
“We know that too many people approaching the end of life find themselves in A&E or staying in hospital because specialist help at home has not been available quickly enough,” she said. “This service gives us a real opportunity to change that.”
The hospice also says referrals from Barking and Dagenham are “disproportionately low compared with local need”. Reaching people there is one of the service’s stated aims.
Charlotte Pomery, chief strategic commissioning officer at NHS North East London, said the investment would help families “get the care they need earlier and avoid unnecessary trips or stays in hospital”.
The funding runs for a fixed period. Ms Berry said the hospice would measure the service’s impact closely and hoped the results “will support continued investment beyond the initial funding period”.
Strictly Saint Francis: £52,000 in one night
About 850 people went to the hospice’s second Strictly Saint Francis, at the Brentwood Centre on Friday 23 October. Eight amateur contestants, paired with professional dancers, had trained for months.
The hospice named the results:
- Glitter Ball Trophy: Mercedes Casado, the hospice’s own retail online trading manager, with her partner Frankie
- Judges’ Choice Award: volunteer Skip Atkins, with his partner Jolita
The judges included Rita Sinclair, a BBC Make a Difference Award winner this year, and Ms Berry. The event’s sponsors were T Cribb, RM2 Flooring, TP Fire & Security and Floyd & Son.
The online part of the appeal sits on a JustGiving campaign page. The £52,000 total is the hospice’s own figure for the night.
What it means for you
- If someone you care for is under Saint Francis Hospice, the new team should start appearing from late autumn. Ask their hospice nurse whether it covers them yet; the hospice has not published a referral route for it.
- For advice now, the hospice runs a specialist advice line on 01708 758643.
- If you are weighing up A&E for a relative near the end of life, the point of this service is to offer another option at home. Our report on Queen’s Hospital’s £42.1m A&E rebuild explains the pressure on the borough’s emergency department.
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