7 November 2013 - Strathcarron Hospice
Thu, Nov 7th 2013 at 12:00 am - 12:00 am
The club meeting was held at Strathcarron Hospice where to proceeds from the Am-Am Golf competition were passed over to the Hospice..
Last week's meeting was held at Strathcarron Hospice where members enjoyed a splendid meal provided by the Hospice staff. Also attending was Rebecca Johnson, President of the Queen Victoria School Interact Club.
President Colin Strachan and chair of the Hospice Support Group, Jim Gardner were delighted to present a cheque to chief executive, Irene McKie for £14,250, the proceeds of the annual Am-Am Golf day held in June at Dunblane New Golf Club.
Following the presentation, Irene and Director of Nursing Marjory Mackay gave members an update on the work going on at the Hospice.
Irene told of the work of the Film Maker in Residence, who had been funded by Creative Scotland, and had spent a year working with patients to create their own films of life at the Hospice and was also creating a documentary following patients through their journey at the Hospice. Irene showed 2 short clips which had been made with the patients full involvement. One of the most touching aspects of the films was the obvious pleasure the patients had in creating them and the extent of the singing and laughing which was prevalent.
Director of Nursing, Marjory Mackay gave an update on the Hospice at Home service. This is a new initiative but is desperately needed to deal with the increasing demand for the Hospice services due to an ageing population with a greater life expectancy. With 2,500 deaths annually in Forth Valley and only 24 beds available in the Hospice, the Hospice at home service will provide vital additional support to an overstretched health service. It will help with respite for carers, the comfort and care for patients in their own homes, knowledge of and links to other services available and practical help. It is hoped that the service would be up and running by March 2014.
Marjory explained that Phase 1 of this project was expected to cost £150,000 for a year's provision. This was over and above the Hospice's existing budget and the impact of the new service would be carefully assessed during this time.
In response to a question from the floor, members were very surprised to hear that the Hospice had no significant funding help from Macmillan Cancer Support and that there were no Macmillan Community nurses in the Forth Valley area; the Hospice provides these services out of their own resources. Any funds raised locally for Macmillan were not used to improve local services, which was generally felt to be an unsatisfactory situation.
A number of members were given a tour of the Hospice by director Billy Andrew, Director of Operations.
President Colin closed the meeting by thanking Irene and her staff for a very informative evening
