The Hospice’s Inpatient Unit on Nettleham Road in Lincoln has reopened its doors after several months of refurbishment works which started in the summer.
On Friday 11th November an exclusive reopening event took place to officially mark the occasion, with the first patients admitted to the Hospice from today, 14th November.
The 150-year-old building required essential maintenance and St Barnabas took this opportunity to implement a series of modern features to further improve the quality of comfort to patients and create a homely and cosy ambience. This includes a beautiful skylight feature in the stairway, restful images, opened-up spaces, new furniture and lighting, and much more.
The reopening event was attended by special guests including John Turner, Chief Executive of the NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board (ICB), who officially reopened the building.
Mr Turner said: “I am delighted to be here today and offer support to the Hospice on behalf of myself and the NHS. St Barnabas have a fantastic track record of being really significant partners in our efforts to give the best health and care we can across the whole county. The Hospice cares for people and their families during the most difficult times of their lives, and I take my hat off to all staff and volunteers.”
Chris Wheway, Chief Executive of St Barnabas Hospice, said in his welcome speech: “The new environment is carefully designed around our vision of high-quality, dignified, and compassionate care. We are now taking patients referrals through their healthcare professionals, and we look forward to again give outstanding care to those who need it in our community. This has been a long journey with a lot of work involved and we want to extend a big thank you to our contractors Miller Knight, who have been superb.”
Picture below: L-R John Turner and Chris Wheway
Matthew Flower, Regeneration Director at Miller Knight, said: “As a business we are passionate about supporting St Barnabas and the charity means a lot to me personally on many levels. This facility is so important to the community, and the refurbishment had to be done right. We worked hard, and we are proud that we delivered a great result on time.”
Vic Haskell, owner of air-conditioning company Haskell & Co, was invited to attend the event and take a look around the refurbished building. He kindly donated and fitted two air-con units, after being moved by the outstanding care his partner received in the Hospice last year.
Vic says: “It was summer, and the room my partner Diane stayed in did not have air-conditioning, so it got quite hot. The care she received was ‘true care’, the nursing staff were totally amazing. There was always somebody on hand to help her and nothing was too much trouble. I can’t praise them enough, simple as that.
“Air-conditioning is my business and I thought this was the best way to help St Barnabas. The value of these units and the installation is about £7,000 and I’m very happy to have been able to support the Hospice and further improve the comfort of their patients. After my experience, St Barnabas is now my company’s preferred charity.”
The care at the Inpatient Unit is available free of charge to patients in Lincolnshire who require around-the-clock care. Referrals to the Hospice can only be made via healthcare professionals– please contact your GP or other medical provider for more information.
Would you like to make a real difference to patients, their visitors, and carers? St Barnabas are looking for Ward Volunteers who can help serve patients meals and drinks, keep nutritional diaries, and maintain a tidy environment, amongst other vital tasks.
If you are interested in this voluntary role, please find more information and apply by downloading the job description here.