Club member Emma Hodges, CEO of St Giles Hospice, was the speaker at the September meeting of Cannock Soroptimists.
The aim of Emma’s presentation was two-fold – to explain the reasons behind the recent re-brand and to show something of the diversity of care offered by St Giles whilst the main focus of care for patient and family remains at its core: what was important 34 years ago is important still today.
The new logo shows a return to the original colour of Orange used by St Giles for many years; the strap line: ‘It’s your life and that’s what matters’ demonstrates that the Hospice is about life: Hospice care is holistic, caring for emotional, practical, spiritual and physical needs and worries for the whole family.
There have been so many changes and advances in the last 34 years: 80% of Hospice care is now delivered in the community; some services, such as the 24×7 advice line, are available to anyone in the community who has need, not just those who are accessing direct palliative care. In describing the ethos at St Giles Emma quoted the author Atul Gawande who said: “Our ultimate goal after all is not a good death but a good life to the very end.” She talked about the importance of offering patients and their families the opportunity to talk openly about their future, something which is hardly ever an easy thing to do but this is often the way a very good life to the end can be achieved.
St Giles offers so much now: in-patient care; day hospice care; Hospice at Home; bereavement services for all ages; an MS group; seated exercise classes; IT groups; Lymphoedema Clinic; day therapies – and more! One education programme of which the Hospice is particularly proud is its Summer School, a one-week work experience for students about to embark on A level studies. Each year the students give so much as well as learning so much themselves, many have gone on to work within the health service, some return to provide voluntary help when they can.
Soroptimist Janis Lomas gave the vote of thanks to Emma for such an emotive, educational presentation, saying that she had found her visit to the Hospice a few years ago quite inspiring and very different to how she imagined it, not at all a sad, morbid place. The club gave Emma a small donation to go into the funding of St Giles. More information can be found by visiting the website: www.stgileshospice.com
Photo attached: Soroptimist Emma Hodges, CEO St Giles Hospice with Val Jones, President, SI Cannock & District