The Friends of Savernake Hospital and the Community is a charity set up to support individuals and organisations involved in healthcare both at Savernake Hospital and in the wider community. It aims to enhance the quality of life of those affected by ill health and or disability, and to support their health and wellbeing. To find out more about their healthcare-related grants and the Friends or to become a volunteer, go to their website.
This article is by the Friends’s administrator, Trudi Granger
Last week (October 7), the Friends were delighted to be given a tour of the new Prospect Hospice outpatient unit at Savernake Hospital. They were shown round by Tricia Davies, Head of Patient Services at Prospect Hospice, and Richard Hammond, their director of fund raising.
The unit is due to open in a matter of days. The outpatient unit comprises various consultation, examination and complementary therapy rooms, all tastefully decorated. The entire unit is bright and cheerful – making maximum use of natural light.
This time last year the Friends had just given their support for the newly announced “Prospect at Savernake” appeal, with its matched funding pledge of £20,000.
The Friends’ endorsement of this appeal, with the backing of local individuals, businesses and schools, was instrumental in enabling Prospect Hospice to well exceed its appeal target of £75,000 – as confirmed by Richard Hammond at the Friends’ 2015 annual general meeting.
On entering the new outpatient centre, which is located within the Lavington Centre at Savernake Hospital, visitors will be greeted by reception staff and volunteers.
Nearby there is an open plan kitchen area (the ‘Welcome Room’) for making coffee and tea. There patients and carers will be hosted by volunteers. Beyond that is a day hospice room where group sessions for up to 16 attendees will be held, addressing such matters as managing breathlessness.
Further along there are a number of smaller rooms for consultation, counselling, clinical examination and for complementary therapies. These therapies will include aromatherapy and the “M” technique, which is a form of therapy which is gentler than massage and suitable for very fragile patients. All the rooms are decorated in different but tasteful colour schemes.
The rooms are centred round the old Lavington Centre courtyard. The upgrade of the courtyard is still a work in progress, but Prospect hope to be able to take education groups out there for sessions in the warmer months.
Tricia Davies and Richard Hammond provided the Friends with a detailed description of how each room would be used. It was a very informative tour, and the Friends were very pleased to see what good use Prospect had made of the space available.
As the Friends Chairman, Janet Louth, has said: “It is an asset to Marlborough to have such end of life care facilities and support for carers so much closer to home.”
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