Our outstanding year and the Impact of 2020

Throughout the pandemic St Barnabas staff have been remarkably resilient and adaptive, and have been able to keep our excellent care and support operational and available.

The clinical teams have continued to work on the front line delivering round-the-clock, specialist care to people who are terminally ill. They have embraced the layers of PPE, supported each other with last minute shift changes and still delivered the same outstanding care in the most difficult of circumstances.

The pandemic had a huge impact on the Wellbeing department as all the usual face-to-face contact had to stop abruptly. Our Welfare, Counselling and Spiritual services were all able to carry on to some extent virtually thanks to the speedy work of our IT team getting people set up with phones and laptops. We launched Lincolnshire’s first Bereavement Helpline to support those who were struggling with their grief in isolation. This project was turned around within three weeks and has provided 1,377 hours of support to Lincolnshire residents.

Our PCCC team was chosen to develop a special tracker which helped identify patients in need and improve their care. Along with the tracker, the team also developed a multi-agency referral form that meant clinicians only needed to fill this in, instead of the four forms they used previously.

To date, the tracker now holds the details of over 1,600 patients and the form has dramatically reduced the time clinicians spend on referrals. This in turn has meant that clinicians have been able to reallocate more time to patient-centred care instead of administrative tasks.

In November 2019, we were delighted to achieve an ‘Outstanding’ Care Quality Commission rating for exceptional commitment to care. Two of our staff also attended the prestigious Hospice UK conference after being invited to speak about our work with the homeless community and in using digital technology.

Lincolnshire’s first Admiral Nursing service was launched last summer in partnership with Dementia UK and Lincolnshire County Council. The team have received over 600 referrals, meaning they have been able to support around 1,200 people in the space of a year.

2019/20 was a great year for the Fundraising team at St Barnabas, as we saw our first spring appeal in years bring in more than £100,000 for the Hospice and win national and local awards in the process.

Our Retail team was very busy during 2019/20, opening their first ever pop-up shop at the Waterside Shopping Centre in Lincoln which turned over £34,000.

The Lottery department launched a Brighter Tomorrow Raffle to help recoup some of the funds lost through cancelled fundraising events and closed charity shops. The raffle beat all expectations and raised an incredible £46,000 – more than double what a normal raffle would raise.

In 2019/20, the Hospice placed 53rd in the Sunday Times 100 Best Not for Profit Organisations, rising from 89th the previous year.

“John had been ill for some time with bowel cancer, which then spread to his spine. He was in so much pain and I was struggling to lift him, so it was such a relief when he went into the Hospice.

“I have volunteered in the Inpatient Unit for 25 years, so I knew he would be in good hands. At first it was strange to be on the other side of the cups of tea, but it really was the nearest thing to being at home. I felt so cared for and John’s pain was finally under control.

“John was at the Hospice when the Torchlight Procession took place that year. I remember going outside as hundreds of families came past with torches lit for loved ones. Nurses and patients came outside, and the doors were left open so that other patients on the ward, like my John, could still hear the pipe band. We take so much comfort from attending the celebration and having our light, and it gives us the time and space to think about our special memories with John.”