Making the most of life: how our donation will help St Ann's Hospice
13 Aug 2015
Hannah Saunders, Partnerships Manager at St Ann's Hospice, visited the University this week to thank us for the donation of £2,734 which our staff raised by completing the Staff Survey
Hannah met Registrar, Secretary and Chief Operating Officer Will Spinks to tell him about the work carried out by St Ann's and how our donation will be used to support it.
With three sites – at Heald Green, Little Hulton (for outpatients) and Wythenshawe Hospital, plus its Hospice at Home service based in Old Trafford - St Ann’s offers a total of 70 beds and is the largest hospice outside London.
Not all patients go to St Ann's to die - some receive pain relief and then return home. The hospice also provides support for parents and families - including bereavement counselling for long periods. The availability of that care has a tremendous impact on those who receive it.
Hannah said: "Most importantly, we treat people as people - rather than patients - right until the end. Staff do their best to fulfil any last wishes: one patient wanted to get a tattoo - so his nurse took him to a tattoo parlour in Salford!
"One-third of the funding for our work comes from the NHS, but we have to raise £16,000 every day so our specialised staff can provide the highest quality care. This generous gift from the University will be a welcome addition to our core funding."
Will Spinks told Hannah: “As much of the University’s research and teaching is carried out in medical and human sciences and we have the largest medical school in Europe, many of our staff are already engaged with healthcare and have some familiarity with the hospice movement. However, this donation helps to engage those colleagues who may be less familiar with your work.”
Here is a video about the work of the hospice:
Further information