St Leonards Community Hospital is due to close this September… Janine Pulford asks, “Is Dorset HealthCare really acting in the interests of everyone’s best health?” Following the Clinical Services Review in Dorset, St Leonards Hospital near Ferndown is one of the community hospitals scheduled for closure. Sadly, this will begin in September 2018, when Fayrewood Ward and its staff are transferred to Royal Bournemouth Hospital. In a statement, Dorset HealthCare said there will be no redundancies and that they and Royal Bournemouth Hospital Trust are working very closely together to ensure a smooth transfer and to support staff. Fayrewood is a 22-bed ward, which provides rehabilitation services for elderly patients. The transfer is said to form part of a
wider plan to improve access to health services in Dorset. There will be a phased transition of all community services at the hospital to other sites in the local area over the next 12 months. If you live near St Leonards Hospital, and have never had cause to use it, you probably have no idea what a wonderful service it provides. It not only contains clinics, but there is a physiotherapy department; out of hours doctor; night nursing service and the East Dorset rehabilitation team on site, as well as an ambulance station. My family has made many trips to St Leonards. I used to take my
mother regularly to the Parkinson’s clinic. The next nearest clinic is in Christchurch. When my husband had a suspected heart problem, it was the out of hours doctor at St Leonards who made a diagnosis. A kidney stone emergency with my eldest son over the New Year was also swiftly dealt with. A case of Christmas food poisoning, and yet again, it was the out of hours service to the rescue, this time for my youngest son, who has also received physiotherapy at St Leonards following a broken wrist. I, too, have benefitted from physiotherapy there. We can’t praise this hospital enough. Yet, despite all these visits and
knowing what a vital place St Leonards is for local residents, it wasn’t until my 91-year-old mother broke her shoulder after a fall that I discovered another incredibly caring aspect, that of Fayrewood ward. Even Ron Shields, the Dorset HealthCare Trust chief executive, recently spoke with Fayrewood staff and stressed that they had provided a fabulous service to patients over many years and that the ambition was to continue with Fayrewood staff delivering the same high quality of service on the Bournemouth Hospital site. However, one thing he overlooked...
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charity of the year
Stan The Man A family from Poole has raised over £8,000 for Forest Holme Hospice at a banger racing event at Matchams near Ringwood. The Stanley family, who live on Alder Hills, organised the ‘Pete Stanley – One Last Time Retirement Meeting’ in May to celebrate the end of his 45 years of racing. The idea of his 23-year-old daughter, Sammy-Jo, Pete only agreed to the event if it helped raise money for Forest Holme Hospice. Sammy-Jo, explains, “Dad isn’t one for enjoying any attention so his initial reaction to the idea of a retirement meeting was just as I expected. However, a couple of weeks later he said, ‘you know that retirement meeting, maybe we could do it but I want it to go to charity.’” Sammy-Jo quickly got arranging things before he could change his mind. The all-day event attracted thousands of visitors and featured 10 races involving 104 cars, including Pete’s own ‘Stan The Man’ Jaguar XJ6 Series 3 built with SammyJo. She said, “So for one last time, with our workshop booming with laughter and full of people all keen to help, we built the final car my Dad himself will ever race. He’s done a great run, so I think he’s welcome to his retirement!”
Paul Tucker, fundraising and communications manager at Forest Holme Hospice Charity, said, “Words can’t describe how grateful we are for this incredible donation which will help us to continue enhancing the quality of life for our patients and their families. Sammy-Jo has worked so hard to make this event happen and I’m sure her dad, Pete, is very proud of what she has achieved. Every little detail was thought of, from Forest Holme logos on all the rosettes to regular Tannoy announcements at the event promoting the charity.” Forest Holme Hospice in Poole provides end-of-life care and support to more than 1,000 people each year with advanced cancer and other life-limiting illnesses across Poole, Wimborne and the Isle of Purbeck. The hospice, which needs to raise £850,000 this year, was chosen by the Stanley family as it had provided care, support and counselling when Sammy-Jo’s Nan was ill and when Mum, Linda, had a cancer diagnosis. Sammy-Jo, recalls, “Forest Holme hospice means a lot to me because it helped at a time when I felt alone and struggled to cope. Their kind staff were there every step of the way supporting me and my family.”
(L-R) Sammy-Jo, Pete and Linda
Stanley
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