St Barnabas Hospice Awarded More Than £190k to Continue Remote Patient Care

Staff and volunteers are celebrating as St Barnabas Hospice has been awarded more than £190,000 to support patients through the current pandemic restrictions. 

The COVID-19 Pandemic has impacted on vital services St Barnabas provides to the public. In order to continue to deliver outstanding care delivery to patients and carers throughout Lincolnshire, St Barnabas Hospice applied for grant funding from The National Lottery Community Foundation COVID response fund and the Barclays COVID-19 Community Aid package.

St Barnabas Hospice was awarded both grants to reach out digitally to Lincolnshire patients, giving those patients who require it access to technology so they can continue to use their services while face-to-face support is currently not feasible. Staff facilities have also been improved so they can reach out to more patients digitally, broaden capacity and support to those most in need.

The National Lottery grant will be used to fund St Barnabas’ REAL Project (Reach out, Equality, Access for all, Lessen the loneliness). The aim of the REAL Project is to reduce loneliness and isolation in the community during what has been an incredibly difficult time thanks to the safety guidelines everyone has had to follow. St Barnabas patients are some of the most vulnerable in society and many have been shielding at home for months. Only around 14% of the grants awarded are for projects worth more than £10,000, placing St Barnabas’s REAL Project in the minority.

St Barnabas Hospice has also been chosen as a charity partner of Barclays, ensuring that the hospice can now digitally reach the most vulnerable patients in Lincolnshire most impacted by COVID-19.

Michelle Webb, Director of Patient Care at St Barnabas, said: “I am delighted that St Barnabas was successful in gaining these grants. The Clinical teams here at the Hospice have adapted at really short notice to working differently during the pandemic, ensuring hospice care is still able to reach people across Lincolnshire by making use of technology.

“The new equipment purchased with this money really will make a huge difference to those who the teams care for. It will help people who are often in remote and rural locations to keep in touch with our clinicians and receive hospice care when they need it the most.

“This grant has come at a perfect time for St Barnabas Hospice. Last year, the Hospice delivered care to an incredible 1,946 vulnerable adults in the community.

“From lockdown (23rd March) to present, St Barnabas’ Day Therapy Centres have remained closed. Despite this, the Hospice has still been able to support 560 Day Therapy patients through phone calls and home visits, as well as 1,176 patients who have chosen to spend their final days at home. Having the use of these new technologies will help increase the number of these patients who can be supported virtually.”