The wraps have come off our £5 million investment in community care as our new building takes shape in Shrewsbury.
We are adding more community-based services and facilities for patients who need our help but don’t need to stay in wards.
And this week the structural steel framework for the brand new building at Bicton Heath was completed, marking the start of bricks-and-mortar construction.
To be home to therapy suites, treatment rooms, visitor facilities, learning resources and rehabilitation services, the new centre is expected to be open next year.
Hospice Chief Executive Heather Palin said: “We are literally building the future of hospice care here.
“This is the bricks and mortar of our ‘Living Well’ concept – where our care goes beyond wards and inpatient services, enabling and supporting people to live as well as they can within the constraints of their illness and then accessing care when they need it.”
Community-based care has become increasingly important for the hospice, which now cares for four out of five patients in their homes rather than on its wards, with more people being looked after for longer, and with a greater range of conditions and more complex needs.
As well as expanding its site and services at Shrewsbury, it is enhancing its facilities at Telford too.
Future work at Apley Castle, Telford, will extend the building, enhancing visitor and communal spaces, and allow a larger therapy area for day patients.
The investment at Shrewsbury is the hospice’s largest single investment since opening the Telford hospice in 2008.
We are using pre-donated funds, grants and legacy windfalls to underwrite this latest investment.
Heather said: “We are so fortunate that our fantastic community support meant we had the funds available to start this work. It is something we simply had to do if we wanted to continue meeting the needs of our patients.
“We have to raise £2 for every £3 we spend so investing in future services as well as funding daily care will always be a challenge and I want to thank everyone who supports us.”
Chairman of the charity’s board of trustees, Tony Cordery, said: “The hospice can only provide the care it does for the community with the community’s support and I am so pleased their generosity has enabled us to make this next bold step.”
Contractors AM Griffiths said more than 300 separate bolts have been individually placed and tightened to form the 110-tonne steel superstructure, with more than 240 cubic metres of concrete poured for the foundations.
Maurice Walsh, Chairman of AM Griffiths said: “AM Griffiths take a real pride in our involvement with Severn Hospice and the construction of this fantastic new facility which will be a fabulous asset to the hospice and the community it serves.”
Completion of the work is expected next summer.
