Woking & Sam Beare Hospice News – Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond MP, paid a visit to the new hospice site in Woking
Woking & Sam Beare Hospices received a distinguished visitor on Friday 14th October, when the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond MP, paid a visit to the new hospice site in Woking.
Member of Parliament for Runnymede and Weybridge, Mr Hammond was invited to view the new hospice; destined to serve his constituency in place of Sam Beare Hospice in Weybridge, when the specialist palliative care unit moves out of Weybridge Hospital at the end of the year.
Accompanied by Hospice CEO Nigel Harding, incoming interim CEO Jayne Cooper and Chairman Marc Riggs, Mr Hammond was taken on a tour of the whole site. Commencing in the new café, which will be open to both hospice users and members of the public, the party then moved to the large new Wellbeing Centre; a multi-purpose space to be used by day-care patients of all ages. The Chancellor then viewed the wards: housing 20 bedrooms, situated on the first floor; each room with its own balcony and an ensuite bathroom. The tour ended in the second floor education suite; which will host a wide range of training and educational activities.
Speaking about the tour, Mr Hammond said:
“I am very impressed with the way the original building has been innovatively reworked to save costs and I am pleased to see how the new hospice is taking shape. There is great potential in the improved Wellbeing Centre and education suite and all of the bedrooms are a very generous size. From the new Hospice, the clinical teams will be able to deliver an even better level of specialist end of life care to residents within my constituency for many more generations to come”.
Chairman Marc Riggs also comments: “Our care provision continues to serve the very heart of the Weybridge community, so it was a privilege to receive Mr Hammond on a tour of our new hospice. We are delighted to have Mr Hammond’s support for this; the biggest project our charity has undertaken since initial construction of both Woking and Sam Beare Hospices”.
To find out more about the project visit www.wsbhospices.co.uk/NewBuild.