Welcome
from Emma Hodges,
Group Chief Executive
Welcome to the latest edition of News and Review. It has
been another busy year for St Giles so it’s a packed edition.
2018 has been a year of reflection and celebration for the hospice as
we reached the 35th anniversary of the day we welcomed our first
patients through our doors. In this edition, you can see some of the
celebrations held, which culminated in Orange Week in July. It was a
wonderful week to be part of and I’d like to thank everyone who was
involved, patients, staff, volunteers and the community.
As part of our birthday celebrations, we welcomed back the Reverend
Canon Paul Brothwell who founded St Giles Hospice, to open our
Summer Fair. Paul was the driving force in creating a hospice in the
area and it was wonderful to hear him talk about the very beginnings
of St Giles.
I was also delighted that Paul feels St Giles continues today to focus
on high quality care for local people and their families, which was his
mission in founding the hospice.
The anniversary has given us as a team the opportunity to look
back at 35 years of hospice care and to look forward to future plans
and challenges.
An update from
our Chairman,
Charles Theaker
Our 35th year at St Giles is a year of change
on the Board of Trustees. It’s been a pleasure
to be the Chairman for the last three years
and in November I will be handing over to our
current deputy chair, Jo Maidment.
In one of my last jobs as Chairman, it gives me great
pleasure to welcome five new Trustees to St Giles. The
first is Sukie Shemar, Corporate Partner at Enoch Evans
LLP in Walsall. Sukie is a specialist corporate lawyer
with significant experience in the charity sector. Joining
her is Dr Paul Joshi, a GP at Tamworth’s Crown Medical
Practice with an interest in technology innovation in
patient care. I’d also like to welcome Sue Read, Professor
of Learning Disability Nursing at Keele University and
Research Lead for research development.
From November, also joining us is Dr Magnus
Harrison, Executive Medical Director and Deputy
CEO at University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS
Foundations Trust. The final appointment is Dr Rashi
Negi, a consultant psychiatrist and Clinical research
network speciality lead at NIHR Clinical.
Looking back has been wonderful, as we have been able to see the
increasing numbers of people we have been able to help. It was also
very clear how much phenomenal support we have received to help
us maintain that growth.
To everyone who has donated time, energy and resources to St Giles
over the last 35 years, thank you so very, very much.
Looking to the future, it is clear that there is a growing need for
hospice care. We believe that more than 1,000 additional people
and their families could benefit from our support, however, due to
increasing costs of care and income remaining challenging we need
to look at innovative ways to reach them.
We also know that we will continue to need the support of our whole
community to meet a financial target of more than £9 million a year.
The story of St Giles from 1983-2018 is made up of
thousands of acts of kindness from our teams, to
patients and their families and from our community
to St Giles. The challenge for the next decade is
significant and we hope to continue to be able to
develop and fund the essential care needed by
people locally.
Thank you – we simply
couldn’t do it without you.
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L-R: Dr Paul Joshi, Professor Sue Read, Charles Theaker,
Sukie Shemar.
Rob Horton, former local GP, is leaving the Board of
Trustees after 25 years. His tenure included a period
as Chairman and another as Acting Medical Director.
Adrian Thompson, Consultant at Queen’s Hospital
Burton upon Trent, has served us for 16 years, many of
them as Chair of Care Governance Committee, is also
standing down. Their contribution has been of the very
best, their counsel has been wise, their commitment
unlimited. They leave an organisation in good heart, and
ready for the challenges of the future.
I’d also like to recognise the dedication of all those staff
and volunteers who work so hard to ensure we provide the
range of care services that our patients and families need.
Thank you all.
News and Review Autumn/Winter 2018