About St Luke’s
St Luke’s Hospice cares for people approaching the end of their life in Harrow and Brent. We aim to give the people we care for the best possible quality of life, each and every day. Supporting local people and their families is at the heart of what we do – focusing on what matters the most to them is at the centre of our care.
Founded by local communities in 1987, we have been providing free expert end of life day care to local people and specialist care in our inpatient unit (IPU) since 2000. Our IPU can care for people in their final days, provide intensive care to help get symptoms under control or give respite care. Many of the people who are cared for in our IPU go home again.
Two thirds of our care is now provided in the comfort of peoples’ homes, as we respect that this is where most people would like to be looked after. The care we give is free of charge, available to all, and respects the cultures, religions and beliefs in our richly diverse community.
We believe in empowering people and provide a wide range of expert care intended to keep people feeling well, independent and mobile for as long as possible. In addition to Home Care and our IPU, alongside outpatient clinics, we provide a range of care intended to support people’s wellbeing including patient and family support, complementary therapy and physiotherapy services.
Our 24-hour helpline and referral service, the St Luke’s Palliative Helpline, is run by a dedicated team of expert nurses who can give advice, provide a rapid response in times of crisis and effectively co-ordinate care, from arranging prescriptions, to getting vital equipment delivered – anything people need to avoid going to hospital and to stay comfortably in their home.
We also have a more specialist community team who can manage more complex needs. In whatever way we are providing care, it is given with compassion and dignity and involves not just looking after the patient, but also includes supporting the people closest to them.
St Luke’s Hospice provides world class palliative (end of life) care and is committed to working collaboratively and sharing our expertise with other health care professionals outside of the hospice. We have an extensive education offering, teaching nursing degree modules, providing training and shadowing opportunities for GP’s, junior doctors, nurses, healthcare assistants, care home staff and paramedics. We emphasise good working relationships with our amazing colleagues in the NHS and take a highly collaborative approach, working together to improve the experience for people who are approaching the end of their life.
We receive around 30% of our funding needed for our care from the NHS and the rest is raised from the amazing generosity of the organisations and people who make our care possible. Our local community is a vital partner in our care, kindly supporting us through their donations and fundraising alongside the dedication of over 800 incredible volunteers who freely give us their time to support the best possible end of life care for local people.
A world where people experience the best possible last phase of life.
– Our Vision
Our Mission
We give high quality, compassionate palliative care in the last phase of life to the people of Harrow and Brent.
We will:
- Reach more people
- Constantly improve all that we do
- Extend our impact through collaboration, innovation and education
- Be an accountable and sustainable organisation
Our Values
We will work on our mission in accordance with our values:
- Caring – Care for all those who deliver and need our services
- Respect – Demonstrate respect and be open minded, inclusive and approachable
- Excellence – Create an environment of continually achieving our goals
- Inclusivity – Strive to reach all sections of our community in all areas of our work
- Empowerment – Empower our community to live a better life
Working with the local community
St Luke’s was founded by the local communities, and we rely on your support for 60% of the funds needed for our care. All of our services are provided completely free of charge, and each year thousands of local people support the work of the hospice by making donations, taking part in events, playing the hospice lottery, or shopping or volunteering in our eighteen charity shops. Find out more about how you can get involved.
Reaching more people
Each year we care for hundreds of local people, but there are many more who would benefit from the care and support we provide, and we aim to extend our services to reach even more people in the years to come. You can find out more about our plans for the future in our annual review.
Our Quality Vision
We strive to make our care as person-centred and responsive to patient needs as possible. We do this by:
- Learning and improving from patient and carer feedback and from our peers in other hospices
- Developing and delivering services which make a difference to the quality of life of our patients
