Hospice nursing service predicts 'dramatic increase' in patient numbers
 IRHH AGM 2010 at West Wycombe Park (with kind permission of Sir Edward and Lady Dashwood) |
Demand for the 24-hour on-call specialist nursing service provided by the Iain Rennie Hospice at Home (IRHH) is growing fast and will increase "dramatically" over the next five years, the charity's annual general meeting was told on Wednesday 7th July.
In the 25 years since its foundation, IRHH has cared for almost 10,000 patients across the Chilterns area of Herts and Bucks. But that number will have doubled in less than 10 years, chairman Steve Cuthbert CBE told a packed meeting at West Wycombe Park.
"As the Iain Rennie service becomes more widely known, and the government relies more on the voluntary sector, demand for our services is going to increase," Mr Cuthbert said. "We are going to have to raise more money to recruit more nurses to meet that demand. We cannot afford to stand still. We do not want to be in a situation where somebody in your street cannot be looked after by our nurses because we don't have the resources."
But the meeting heard that while demand was growing, the percentage of money IRHH received from the NHS towards its costs was falling each year. Treasurer Chris Langford said: "This year the money we received from the NHS went down from 12 per cent to 11 per cent of our income. That represents about one third of the average paid to hospices across the UK."
The meeting also heard from the broadcaster and vice president of Help the Hospices, Martyn Lewis, who called on local primary care trusts (PCTs) to give hospice funding a higher priority. "PCTs are so close to their communities, they have a duty to play their part. The hospice movement is one of the greatest institutions our country has ever seen," he said.
IRHH chief executive Robert Breakwell told the meeting patient numbers had increased by eight per cent over the past year, from 905 in 2008/9 to 978 in 2009/10. IRHH nurses had responded to 1,710 out of hours calls during the year, of which 694 resulted in a visit, almost two a night. The family support team supported 955 carers and bereaved relatives during the year and there was an increased demand for the Pepper children's nursing service. Iain Rennie Pepper nurses looked after 13 terminally ill children who died during the year.
Director of Nursing and Clinical Services Sue Varvel said government policy and legislation was having an impact on demand for IRHH services. "As well as cancer patients, we have always cared for patients with other illnesses, but those numbers have grown since the introduction in 2008 of the government's end of life care strategy," she said. "For example, people with heart conditions, or diseases such as multiple sclerosis or motor neurone disease, are being referred to us. We are training our nurses to give them expertise in these other areas in addition to the specialist knowledge they already have."
The meeting heard that the charity's income rose from £3.58 million in 2008/9 to £3.83 million in 2009/10. Mr Langford said IRHH was feeling the effects of the recession and expected to finish the year with a planned deficit of £500,000, which would be funded from reserves.
But he added that the efforts of the charity's 700 volunteers saved IRHH the equivalent of £600,000 a year if they were paid the average wage.
The full 16 page 2009/2010 Annual Review is available for download.
13th July 2010
