St Luke’s Hospice was proud to hold a special reception on Tuesday 17 May at No.10 Downing street to help raise awareness of their Single Point of Access service which gives patients, carers and health care professionals a single number they can call 24 hours a day seven days a week for end of life care, advice and support in Harrow. The hospice’s rapid response team can also provide emergency care at home to avoid patients being admitted unnecessarily to hospital when it is their wish to remain at home.
Generous supporters have to date pledged £69,000 to help fund nurses and health care assistants to carry out emergency visits.
St Luke’s CEO, Robin Webb, St Luke’s Chairman, Mike Redhouse, and Hospice patron Lord Dolar Popat were joined at No.10 Downing Street by prominent members of the community including CB Patel, Publisher/Editor of Asian Voice, the Dhamecha family, who are supporting St Luke’s as part of their 40th anniversary celebrations, together with long standing supporters and volunteers of the hospice.
St Luke’s CEO, Robin Webb says, ‘We were absolutely delighted that Samantha Cameron agreed to host this very special event for some of our fantastic supporters.
It was a real privilege to hold our reception at number 10 and our guests really enjoyed meeting Samantha, who was a natural host making everyone feel relaxed. Many of our guests had their own personal experience of the care and support St Luke’s had provided to family members, which had motivated them to support St Luke’s. It was moving that Samantha mentioned in her speech the support that she and David had received from their local children’s hospice for their son, reinforcing the immense value of hospice care.
It was an amazing evening and a once in a lifetime opportunity – thanks again to Samantha for hosting and to Lord Dolar Popat, one of our patrons, for arranging the event.’
Brendan Kilker’s wife, Christine was looked after by St Luke’s and his family were also supported. He is a long standing supporter of the hospice and attended the No.10 event. Brendan says, ‘It was a lovely evening and it was a privilege to be there. I shook Samantha Cameron’s hand and spoke to her. She was very nice and approachable and it was very exciting to meet the Prime minister’s wife.
St Luke’s need to raise over £3 million each year to provide their excellent service. This is why we do what we do to help the hospice raise the money they need.’ It serves two of the most diverse boroughs of London, and work with their patients to identify and meet their individual needs: medical, psychological, social, religious and cultural. Many hundreds of people still die in hospital each year, when it is their wish to be at home. St Luke’s is working to reach more of these people.
St Luke’s is working in partnership with Harrow CCG to provide a single point of access service which allows patients who have been identified as being in the last 12 months of life to call a single number, 24 hours a day, seven days a week and get in touch with a St Luke’s nurse. The calls are covered by our trained nurses who can give advice and reassurance, try to contact the patient’s health care professional on their behalf, and if necessary send out one of our expert rapid response team to provide medical care and support. This often enables the patient to be cared for at home, avoiding the need to call 999 which can lead to the patient being admitted to hospital when it is their wish to remain at home.
