2008 Annual Review. Page 4.
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES
Objectives and Activities
St Luke's Hospice's mission is to provide specialist palliative care free of charge to people with advanced, progressive illnesses, which addresses their physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs, thus enhancing their quality of life and supporting their families and carers.
To achieve this mission, the Hospice provides a range of patient and family clinical services through provision of In-Patient, Day-Care and Outpatient clinics as well as developing community services through its Hospice at Home service and specialist Community Palliative Care team. The aim and objectives of clinical service are to continue to develop and expand these services.
Clinical services are, of course, supported by a range of administrative and fundraising functions and our aim has been to contain the cost of these functions without detriment to efficiency. The SOFA records that although the costs of generating funds rose by £128,000 in 2008, this mainly related to the additional costs of the expanded shops company and fundraising itself saw static costs, while exceeding its budgetary income targets in all areas save one: legacy income.
The Hospice employed an average of 72 full-time equivalent paid staff in 2008, with a further 28 employed in the trading subsidiary. They are supported by a cohort of some 700 unpaid volunteers. These volunteers cover a wide range of activities for the Hospice which includes:
- Shop Volunteers
- Receptionists
- Driving patients to and from Day-Care
- Fundraising
- Working in Day-Care and the In-patient units
- Administrative support
- Complementary therapy volunteers
- Bereavement support
- Gardening
The support of our volunteers is of immense importance to the Hospice. Not only do they save the Hospice a considerable amount of money by performing tasks that would otherwise have to be done by paid staff, they are representatives of the communities the Hospice serves and thus bring to patient care an extra dimension of support and help that is the quintessence of hospice care and which distinguishes it from palliative care in other settings. In 2007 the Hospice was successful in its bid for a grant from the Big Lottery of £250,000 over 3 years to support the volunteer and community strategy. This began to be implemented in 2008 alongside a strategic plan better to integrate staff and volunteers. Many of the initial milestones of the Big Lottery project have been achieved in this first year of funding.
Achievements and Performance
St Luke's main achievements during 2008 may be summarised as follows:
- The maintenance of a sound financial performance in 2008, not withstanding a drop in legacy funding.
- Excellent fundraising results, exceeding budgets in a year which has seen the beginning of a recession.
- A staged development of the Hospice at Home Service within the constraints of external funding.
- The continuation of a wider range of physiotherapy and complementary services for patients supported by the Paul Daisley Trust.
- Further development of social work, family support services and bereavement service.
- Meeting all the standards required by the Healthcare Commission to provide appropriate and excellent care to patients and families.
- The appointment to the new post of substantive consultant in palliative medicine.