Palliative care suite opened at hospital

A new palliative care suite for people nearing the end of their lives has opened in Weymouth, thanks to generous donations and fundraising efforts.

The Evergreen Suite is part of the Radipole Ward at Westhaven Hospital and was officially unveiled by the deputy Lord Lieutenant of Dorset Cleeves Palmer. Dorset HealthCare opened the facility to provide a “welcoming space where relatives can spend quality time with loved ones who are receiving specialist end-of-life care”.

The suite offers round-theclock medical support and aims to make family members’ last moments together as comfortable as possible. Hospital matron Helen De Jonge said: “This facility has been made possible thanks to a very generous donation of £54,000 from our League of Friends.

“Relatives of former patients, and staff, also contributed to the costs, taking part in various fundraising activities to help us reach our total of £68,200. It’s been a fantastic effort by so many people.

“The suite is decorated sympathetically with relaxing colours not normally associated with a clinical environment. There is a sofa bed so loved ones can stay overnight, and the room opens out onto our beautiful garden – allowing patients to have their beloved pets to spend time with them too.”

As part of the opening ceremony, the suite received a blessing by The Rev Canon Andrew Gough, retired, formerly of Holy Trinity Church, Weymouth, and there was a speech by Peter Rendall, Chairman of the League of Friends.

The event was attended by staff, volunteers, relatives and local dignitaries including Mayor of Weymouth Cllr Kate Wheller, Mayor of Chickerell Cllr Mike Jolliffe and Mayor of Portland Cllr Carralyn Parkes.

Down to earth

PAGAN VIEWS with JO BELASCO BA Hons History of Architecture and Design

It’s rather wonderful that the jewel in the crown of West Dorset’s Stone Age splendour was found accidentally.

The three archaeologists who found it (Past Participate – a community interest company) were working on another project when they stumbled on only the second polishing stone in situ to be found in England!

What exactly is a polishing stone? It is what neolithic people used to make axe heads. There would have been a lot more trees then (5,000 years ago) and that was probably what Neolithic people were doing with the axes – chopping them down to make space for growing crops and keeping farm animals. Found in situ or earth-fast and what a situation it is! It’s easy to imagine the young King Arthur of legend pulling the sword from the stone here but nope, that’s another story – or is it?

So where does history end and myth begin?

Serendipitously, an event called Home of Hillforts and Henges was about to start, which would give me some clues. In his talk, Dorchester’s Extraordinary Prehistoric Landscape, Steve Wallis explained that the emphasis in archaeology is less on a precise site these days and more on the landscape as a whole. That