Sophie, HRH The Countess Of Wessex GCVO Opens The New Woking & Sam Beare Hospices Building
Woking & Sam Beare Hospices leads the way in UK hospice care with a Royal opening of its brand new state-of-the-art hospice in Woking, Surrey.
Patient-led charity Woking & Sam Beare Hospices were delighted to welcome HRH The Countess of Wessex GCVO for a special tour of its brand new hospice care facility in Goldsworth Park Centre, Woking, on Tuesday 05 December 2017
As part of her visit Her Royal Highness officially opened the 20-bed facility, on a day that was a celebration of what the hospice, its staff and volunteers have achieved. As well being the perfect opportunity to thank those supporters who have made the new build possible.
Woking & Sam Beare Hospices cares for over 1,400 patients, their carers and families each year. It specialises in delivering holistic care for patients with progressive advanced conditions free of charge across Surrey. The hospice’s care is delivered in the community in patient homes, in care or nursing homes or through its in-patient ward in the hospice; as well as through the Bradbury Wellbeing Centre, which offers day care services to all its patients and carers.
“The decision to merge Sam Beare Hospice in Weybridge and the original Woking Hospice to a brand new state-of-the-art purpose build was primarily because we put our patients at the heart of all we do. Hospice care over the years has changed and the demands on our services have increased. We provide very personal and unique care and support plans for patients who often have very complex needs. Our new build means we are now able to provide the very best in facilities; as well as creating a hub and centre of excellence in palliative care that better enables us to increase the effectiveness of our services to the changing and growing demands of our communities across Surrey.
“We were honoured and delighted that HRH The Countess of Wessex led our celebrations today and, after a period of huge transition, officially opened our new Woking Hospice. During her visit Her Royal Highness met with patients and their loved ones, our team of staff and supporters, without whom we could not deliver all we do.”
As part of HRH The Countess of Wessex’s tour she met several patients and their families on the ward, as well as a truly special birthday treat for one patient who was celebrating her 70th birthday. Then when HRH visited the Bradbury WellBeing Centre she was able to make a wish come true for day patient Tom Callaghan, who has always wanted to meet a member of the Royal family.
To mark the occasion HRH The Countess of Wessex unveiled our official opening plaque and signed the hospice visitors’ book and she spoke of how impressed she was with the building and thanked all those who have contributed to make the new hospice possible.
This very special visit then concluded with Her Royal Highness being presented with a bouquet of flowers by Chloe Boyes age 13. Chloe was six when her dad was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease, and she was just eight when he died. Chloe has raised over £2,000 for the hospice and at the Italian dinner in November this year she spoke in front of over 300 people about how much being part of the hospice’s bereavement support group for teenagers, Tommy D, has meant to her.
Jayne Cooper concludes: “We have been on an incredible journey over the last two years and I am extremely proud of all we have achieved. None of this would have been possible without our staff and volunteers, but also because of the generosity of so many wonderful supporters. This is a time to celebrate and I am excited about the future and being a critical part of leading the way in hospice care for many more thousands of patients, their carers and families.”
Key Facts For Woking & Sam Beare Hospices – What A Great Job They Do!
- We deliver 8,760 hours of care and support each year
- Our team of specialist healthcare professionals care for our patients 24 hours per day, seven days per week
- We care for approximately 1,400 patients each year
- Over 70% of our care is delivered in patient homes or care or nursing homes
- We receive referrals from Spelthorn, West Elmbridge, Woking, North Guildford, Surrey Heath and Runnymede but we can take patients outside of our region if required
- We are specialists in care for patients with advanced progressive complex needs
- We care for patients with, for example, advance dementia, heart disease, cancer, degenerative conditions and kidney disease
- We care for adults of all ages [18 – 85+]
- Our services are completely FREE of charge
- We offer support services for carers and family members
- We provide child and teenage bereavement counselling
- Our Wellbeing Centre offers a range of treatments and therapies
- We have 816 fabulous volunteers, without whom we could not deliver all that we do
- We work closely with GPs and other clinicians to share knowledge and expertise
- For every £5 of costs incurred we need to raise £4 from voluntary income
- We need to raise in excess of £8 million a year to continue to deliver our services
The new Woking Hospice has been designed with extreme attention to detail.
It comprises of:
- 20 purpose built private rooms with en-suite bathrooms
- Quiet and reflection rooms for visitors and two family pods with kitchenettes and entertainment for children
- Two dual purpose extended family/bariatric rooms
- A Multi-Faith Retreat
- The Bradbury Wellbeing Centre were patients can receive a range of physiotherapies, complementary therapies
- Two spa bathrooms with specialist bathing facilities
- Assessment, treatment and counselling rooms and a physiotherapy gym
- Fully fitted kitchen to prepare all patient meals
- A café open to the public
- Beautiful garden spaces designed and landscaped by 2017 RHS Chelsea Flower Show Gold Award Winner Charlotte Harris
- A purpose built education centre and designated meeting spaces
Building work on the new hospice commenced in November 2015 and the build design incorporated the blue print and shell of an original office building.
The hospice was handed the keys to the new facility from the contractors in March 2017. While the interiors where completed the hospice started the transition processes over to the new Woking Hospice, while delivering compulsory orientation and training to all staff. The doors to the new Woking Hospice were opened to its first in-patients in May 2017 and the prefabricated offices for support staff where craned in and completed in August 2017. Throughout the build the Sam Beare and Woking Community Team’s continued to operate as normal. The Sam Beare Community Team are based at Clive House in Weybridge.
All the hospice’s services continued as normal to all patients and carers across Surrey – an achievement to be proud of.
About Woking & Sam Beare Hospices
- We deliver 8,760 hours of care and support each year
- Our team of specialist healthcare professionals care for our patients 24 hours per day, seven days per week
- We care for approximately 2,000 patients each year
- Over 70% of our care is delivered in patient homes or care or nursing homes
- We receive referrals from Spelthorne, West Elmbridge, Woking, North Guildford, Surrey Heath and Runnymede but we can take patients outside of our region if required
- We are specialists in care for patients with advanced progressive complex needs
- We care for patients with, for example, advance dementia, heart disease, cancer, degenerative conditions and kidney disease
- We care for adults of all ages [18 – 85+]
- Our services are completely FREE of charge
- We offer support services for carers and family members
- We provide child and teenage bereavement counselling
- Our Wellbeing Centre offers a range of treatments and therapies
- We have 816 fabulous volunteers, without whom we could not deliver all that we do
- We work closely with GPs and other clinicians to share knowledge and expertise
- For every £5 of costs incurred we need to raise £4 from voluntary income
- We need to raise in excess of £8 million a year to continue to deliver our services
Woking & Sam Beare Hospices is a patient-centred charity that delivers specialist palliative care to adult patients of all ages who have life-limiting and terminal illnesses. We cover the North West Surrey region, providing free of charge holistic care and support services for patients, their families and carers. Each year we care for over 2000 patients, their families and carers both in our hospice and their own homes (where over 70% of our care is delivered) enabling patient choice and the best quality of life.
We care for adults of all ages with a wide range of life limiting conditions such as cancer, heart disease, Motor Neurone Disease (MND), chronic pulmonary conditions, Parkinson’s disease and Multiple Sclerosis (MS). We help patients to manage their symptoms, which are often complex and why they require the expertise of our Clinical Nurse Specialists and specialist doctors.
Our services enable us to offer our patients holistic care, which means we offer practical, emotional, social and spiritual support as well as managing their medical needs. We offer day care services where patients receive assessments, treatments and therapies, as well as emotional and spiritual support. We also deliver counselling for our patients and their families, including child bereavement services and school support programmes.
We are a charity, and while we receive some government funding, around 75% of what we deliver is funded through our charity shops and fundraising activities. We could not do this without the generosity of all of our supporters, volunteers and the local community.
For more information about Woking & Sam Beare Hospices please see the Woking & Sam Beare Hospices page
Woking and Sam Beare Hospices are independent charities dedicated to providing specialised end of life care and support to local people, their families and carers. Registered charity number for Woking Hospice: 1082798. Registered charity number for Sam Beare Hospice: 1115439.
Around 75% of what we deliver is funded through our charity shops and fundraising activities. We could not do this without the generosity of all of our supporters, volunteers and the local community.
