NHS Walsall and St Giles

NHS Walsall and St Giles: Working together for Patients

Media Release: Friday 6 August 2010

A new working relationship between NHS Walsall and a renowned regional hospice charity will deliver high-quality medical and nursing care for local people living with cancer and other serious illnesses, as well as offering support for their families and helpers.

The St Giles Hospice charity has emerged as the successful bidder to provide in-patient services at Walsall’s £5.5 million Palliative Care Centre, which is currently under construction at Goscote and due to be completed in January.

Chairman of NHS Walsall, Dr Geoff Archenhold, says: “Our new Palliative Care Centre is a centre of excellence which will herald a huge and long-awaited improvement in the services available locally to patients nearing the end of their lives.

“With building work well advanced, the next stage was to seek bids from potential partners to deliver the in-patient services at our centre. We found ourselves in the fortunate position of having an extremely high quality shortlist of potential service providers to choose from.

“St Giles will already be well known to many people in Walsall through the outstanding care provided at its current centres in Sutton Coldfield and Whittington near Lichfield. 

“We were particularly impressed by their commitment to providing high quality care and their clear vision of how they will establish a strong Walsall identity for the new service.”

Peter Holliday, St Giles Hospice Group Chief Executive, says: “We are delighted to be working with NHS Walsall to deliver the highest-quality care at the new in-patient facility.

“St Giles has been providing care for the people of Walsall and the surrounding area for many years, and this is a natural extension of that care. “The service is only part-funded through the NHS and funds are desperately required to enable the new facility to operate to full capacity as soon as possible.”

 “This is a challenge we are pleased to take on with the support of the local community, and we are also hoping to work with the Walsall Hospice charity, which we know has done so much good work in preparing for a Walsall Hospice.”

Funds donated to the Walsall hospice through St Giles will be dedicated solely to providing care in Walsall, and will not be used elsewhere.

Chief Executive of NHS Walsall, Denise McLellan, adds: “This development has only been made possible by the hard work and dedication of many of our staff and numerous supporters and stakeholders from across Walsall, as well as a significant contribution from West Midlands Strategic Health Authority.

“It is a crucial part of our integrated End of Life Care Strategy which aims to deliver the highest quality care for patients who are nearing the end of their lives, and support for their families. 

“It is particularly appropriate that we are able to announce our new working relationship with St Giles during the 2010 Cancer and Palliative Care Awareness Week when we are raising awareness about issues relating to cancer and the range of end-of-life care services available locally.”

Terry Robshaw, Director of Operations at Walsall Hospice Charity, says: “Whilst the Walsall Hospice Charity trustees and staff were naturally disappointed that their own tender working in partnership with Katharine House Hospice had not been successful, they welcomed the news that St Giles would be the service providers.

“Walsall Hospice Charity has been working for over 20 years for a local hospice and that dream will become reality over the next few months. Patient care is our number-one priority and we are hoping to work together with St Giles Hospice to support a first-rate service for local people with life-limiting illnesses.
“We have received huge support from the people of Walsall towards the cost of equipping and running the new facility, especially since the launch of our £1.5m Appeal last year. The money raised through our current fundraising activities will continue to be put towards this vital service.”

Notes to editors:

Construction of the Palliative Care Centre began in October 2009 as part of the implementation of a new integrated End of Life Care Strategy for the residents of Walsall. The new in-patient hospice, due for completion in November 2010, will be the first dedicated hospice facility for adults within Walsall. The unit will include:

As part of a successful £100k Arts Council bid, the Goscote development will include a range of newly commissioned artwork, to include:

St Giles Hospice is a registered charity offering high-quality specialist care free of charge for people with cancer and other serious illnesses, as well as providing support for their families and carers.
Patients come from across the hospice’s catchment area, which ranges from Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Atherstone in the east, to Cannock and Walsall in the west – and from Burton and Uttoxeter in the north, to Sutton Coldfield and Coleshill in the south. 

Care is currently offered at the hospice’s facilities in Sutton Coldfield and Whittington, between Lichfield and Tamworth, or in patients’ own homes across the region.