Covid-19 Volunteer Bulletin 2

Bulletin 1^st April (Bulletin No 2)

Re: Coronavirus (Covid-19)

Here we are at the beginning of April and the clocks have gone forward. At the turn of the year we would have all looked forward to this time in the hope of spring, and summer to come. The weather thus far has been kind to us, however as so often quoted we face unprecedented times with the outbreak of Covid- 19, with new challenges springing up on a daily and sometimes hourly basis. Hospice at Home continues to provide nursing care and support to patients and their families supported by the Occupational Therapy team with the Family Support team providing support by telephone. The teams enable individuals to stay at home or be discharged home from hospital.

There has been much discussion in the media around the provision of Personal Protected Equipment (PPE) for frontline staff. This must be a nightmare for the NHS and I am hopeful that systems will be in place soon, to support hospices. It is important that we protect patients, their families and indeed importantly the staff who are caring for them. Whilst as yet supplies from NHS to ourselves haven’t got into swing I would like to thank all the local businesses, groups and individuals who have been very generous and supplied us with gloves, aprons, hand gel and some face masks.

Hospices across the country, whether they are ‘at home’ services like ours, or those with inpatient beds, are certainly facing financial difficulties. Tracy Bleakley, the CEO for Hospice UK, stated in a recent interview that Hospices nationally have seen a drop in income of £70 million in a month and they are in negotiations with the government to try and secure some funding. As yet there is no news in relation to this, however what ever happens we still rely heavily on our local community for whatever support it can give us. Please do support us if you can through our online campaigns on our website and we will shortly be launching our Sunflower Surprises Raffle through our Contact Magazine. Also, if you are able, please continue to support us with the PPE our staff need, this would be greatly appreciated.

My final message from today’s bulletin is that I hope you and yours keep as well as  you can.

If you have any queries please don’t hesitate to email me Fiona.Stobart@HHCNL.cumbria.co.uk.

Fiona Stobart

Chief Executive