St Richard's Hospice Annual Review 2020/21

Annual Review 2020/21

What we do

St Richard’s Hospice is an independent charity caring for adults with a serious progressive illness, improving their quality of life from diagnosis, during treatment and to their last days and supporting their loved ones.

Last year we gave co-ordinated care and support to 2,935 patients, loved ones and the bereaved.

We aim to improve patients’ quality of life, helping them to live as fully as they can to the end of their lives, however long that may

be. We work with other health-care partners to prevent crisis intervention and hospital admissions where possible. We care for patients in South Worcestershire including Worcester, Droitwich, Pershore, Evesham, Malvern, Tewkesbury, Broadway, Martley and surrounding areas. This includes in-patient and community care, Living Well services and a range of further support.

Patients from the Wyre Forest, Kidderminster, Redditch and Bromsgrove areas can access In-patient care.

Everything we do is made possible thanks to the wonderful generosity of our donors, supporters and volunteers.

Our year in numbers

We supported 2,935 patients, their loved ones and the bereaved

1,152 patients supported by our Community Nursing Teams

275 patients cared for in our In-patient Unit

377 individuals supported by Living Well Services

1,598 individuals helped by the Family Support Team

Our CQC inspection report in 2016 gave us an overall rating of good.

2

Our values

Caring

CompassionateCommitted

ProfessionalCaring is at the heart of what we do

We are inclusive and treat everyone as an individual who we respect and value

We take time to listen and respond to the needs of each person

We work with empathy, sensitivity and understanding

We are considerate, kind and fair

We support and empower individual choice

We are dedicated, reliable and hard working

We continuously strive to deliver highquality services

We support each other and work together for the benefit of our patients and loved ones

We aspire to be the best in everything we do

We are innovative and develop our skills through continuous learning and evaluation

We take responsibility for our actions and are accountable.

The care and support we offer

Community Nursing Team

Hospice at Home Service

Living Well Services

In-patient Unit for Specialist Palliative Care

Family Support Services

Education and Resources Centre

Medical Services

Volunteer Services

Spiritual Care

Outpatient facility for Consultantled clinics

Allied Healthcare Professionals

Every day, the team at St Richard’s Hospice has more than 1,220 people under our care – at the hospice, in people’s own homes or in the community.

3

The Living Well Centre

A Living Well Services nurse supports a patient to access the Love Books virtual group.

The aim of the Living Well Services Team is to enable patients and families to live well, promote independence, confidence and good quality of life.

When lockdown was first imposed, and we could no longer invite out-patients to the hospice for face-to-face care, our Living Well Team responded rapidly to continue its services virtually. Despite the challenges, a constant during a year of so much change was the unwavering focus on supporting the wellbeing of patients and their loved ones.

Care continued over the phone and by video call, ensuring none of our patients felt alone at such a worrying time. As a result of our fast innovation and dedication, we were one of the first hospices in the country to launch virtual care for out-patients and carers.

The Living Well Team’s vision is for patients and their families to feel empowered to live well with their illness, and have the best quality of life possible. This did not change during the pandemic. Each patient has the power to shape their journey with St Richard’s. They work with their hospice healthcare professional to discuss what is important to them, what they would like to achieve, and set personal goals in line with their needs. This way of working gives the patient control to make choices about their care, at a time when they may feel

powerless. The team offered a wide range of virtual care to manage symptoms and psychological needs. Within the team are palliative Doctors and Nurses and Senior Healthcare Assistants, a Psychologist, Physiotherapists, a Creative Therapist, Occupational Therapists and a Complementary Therapist.

A variety of care was available, including: one-toone support via telephone call or video call; specialist clinics; one-to-one psychological support; courses such as adapted tai chi, sharing stories, and managing breathlessness; and virtual social groups such as nature therapy and quiet time. The Living Well Team also collaborates with other hospice departments to ensure patients receive the best care for their needs. For example, they might refer a patient to our Family Support Team or for spiritual care with Chaplaincy. Over the course the pandemic, the number of people supported by the Living Well Team has increased.

“Listening to other people saying they are very frightened when they cannot get their breath helped me to know I am not the only one who feels like this. It is very frightening, but I am learning that if others are scared too and are ok, I can be ok.

“We all have different illnesses, but we are all breathless in the group so can help each other.”

8

Our volunteers are superheroes!

Our volunteers are truly remarkable and we are privileged some have been able to donate their time safely during the pandemic.

Volunteer roles include providing skilled emotional support for patients and bereaved people over the phone, delivering food parcels and going on socially distanced walks and talks when safe to do so. Others have volunteered by working in online patient groups such as Men’s Space, book groups and nature therapy sessions. Our amazing shop volunteers have helped keep our shops up and running between lockdowns.

They give their time freely, simply because they want to make a difference to the lives of others. We couldn’t continue to offer all our care without these fantastic individuals.

Volunteers contributed a total of 24,425 hoursVolunteers involved in patient services worked for 1,196 hours

While volunteers assist in a wide range of patient areas, their help with fundraising events; the shops and commercial department and contribution within the administrative functions of the hospice are also essential.

Volunteers played an essential part in keeping our shops open between lockdowns and also on reception. (right)

16

Fundraising

The five-year strategy for fundraising is very much around resourcing non-event income, specifically digital and diversification of income opportunities through business development.

Whilst this strategy was only in its first year of implementation when the pandemic hit, the hospice was better placed in 2020/21 for the impact of Covid-19 than it would have been previously due to the move toward digital delivery for fundraising. However, there was, and will continue to be, a significant impact on income as a direct result of events, challenges, and hospitality cancellations.

An annual donation of Christmas cakes to sell or raffle is one of many community initiatives to support hospice fundraising

The strategy to focus on emerging digital income opportunities came to the fore during the Covid crisis and expediated the need to examine diversification of income generation fully. The recruitment of a Business Development Manager, a Digital Marketing Officer and Data Analysis and Insights Manager had an immediate positive impact. Over the past year the transition from in-person to digital income generation has helped negate the disruptive influence on traditional income generation models. Finding ways to diversify income demands a greater focus on the donor and requires a thorough understanding of our donors, and the channels they prefer to use. One of the key components of successful digital fundraising campaigns

is a user-centric approach and the Communications Department of St Richard’s played a vital role in this.

The hospice is increasingly dependent on the on-going support from the community and the involvement of many whether they be individuals, groups, clubs, schools, churches, local businesses or a Trust and Grant making organisation. The increase in income from Gifts in Wills over recent years is also significant and continues to help us provide core services. More recent work with Bequeathed, an online Will writing service, has allowed the hospice to develop its strategies for attracting gifts and increasing the values. We are grateful to everyone who leaves a bequest to St Richard’s. Regular gifts are also important as they provide sustainable, predictable income and we work hard to encourage support in this way too, especially through the use of social media. St Richard’s will need to continue to find new avenues and approaches to meet the economic demands as the climate will remain uncertain for some time yet and we are grateful, and truly indebted, to all our supporters and thank them for their fundraising and contributions.

Commercial

The start of this financial year was impacted by Covid-19 and the lockdown. All measures were taken to reduce our costs/overheads as it was uncertain when we would be able to re-open. At this point we had lost 70% of our volunteers, mainly through self-isolation and many of these did not return immediately. When we re-opened in June 2020, many volunteers doubled and tripled their contribution of time. We took a staged approach to re-opening our shops, making sure they were Covid-secure and re-stocked with appropriate seasonal product. Customers came flocking and the tills rang until our second lockdown in November 2020.

These were very unsettling times with the majority of our staff on furlough. Finally we were able to open again and were well supported by customers before the third lockdown at the beginning of January 2021. Despite the opening and closing of our shops through the pandemic, each time we opened our customers came back in volume. We operated for a maximum of 170 days with 117,750 customers who purchased goods, compared to a full year of trading of 364,497 customers. The financial results were income of £2,303,182 (including Covid-19 support and business interruption insurance.) The net profit to the hospice was £507,007.

17

Financial review

This financial year was greatly affected by Covid-19. Income from the hospice’s fundraising and shops was lower than the previous year with Covid government support received to compensate. However, we did not stop delivering care, instead we changed the way we delivered it knowing the need of our community for hospice services remained. Our costs of providing charitable activities remained the same as the previous year.

Dan Haigh Director of Finance and Information

Covid Government support £2.712 million

Fundraising £2.301 million

Investment £0.104 million

Income from joint ventures lottery

£0.117 million

TOTAL INCOME £10,762 million

Shops £1.471 million

NHS

£2.391 millionEducation £0.1 million

Gifts In Wills £1.566 million

Education £0.272 million

Fundraising

£0.842 millionGenerating Funds - Trading £1.845 million

TOTAL SPEND £8.756 million

Investment Costs £0.029 million

Patient & Family Care £5.768 million

18

Please help us to doeven more in 2022.

On behalf of our patients and families we would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has supported our care.

To help us care for patients and their loved ones in the future, you can fundraise, volunteer or raise awareness of St Richard’s. For more information visit www.strichards.org.uk

St Richard’s Hospice Wildwood Drive, Worcester WR5 2QT | 01905 763963

Registered charity no. 515668. Registered company no. 01850502

Printed on sustainable paper please