HSA donates £150,000 to Help the Hospices to train hundreds of hospice staff
Howard Lake | 9 October 2006 | News
Help the Hospices, the national charity for the hospice movement, has received £150,000 from HSA, a leading health plan provider and part of Simplyhealth Group. The money is being used for Professional Development Grants, which provide training for hundreds of hospice and palliative care staff such as doctors, nurses and social workers across the UK. This training will enhance staff’s skills and expertise in palliative care and ensure they are kept up-to-date with the latest developments in healthcare, thereby advancing the quality of care given to hospice patients and their families.
Catherine Malia, Advanced Nurse Practitioner at St Gemma’s Hospice in Leeds, was one of the first to receive a grant, which enabled her to undertake an advanced course in Pain and Symptom Management. She commented, “This course helped me to consolidate and improve the essential skills I need to care for terminally-ill patients. On my return to the Hospice I am sharing the knowledge I gained with other members of the nursing team. Optimising pain and symptom management helps patients to concentrate on making the most of the time they have left, however long that may be.”
Help the Hospices supports hospices in their work on the frontline of caring for people affected by terminal illness through training, education, information, grant-aid, advice and national fundraising events and activities.
Help the Hospices also gives voice to the interests, views and concerns of over 220 local charities which provide the majority of hospice care across the UK, by investigating issues, publishing reports and briefings and advocating the cause of independent voluntary hospice care in Westminster, Whitehall and the media.
David Burland, Director of Income Generation at Help the Hospices, said, “We are absolutely delighted that HSA and Simplyhealth Group have chosen to support the hospice movement by giving £150,000 for the training of hospice staff across the country. On average adult hospices only receive 33% of their funding from the government; the rest has to be raised from the communities they serve, which is why the support of companies like HSA is so important to us. A huge thank you to all at HSA.”
Chris Harrison HSA Managing Director said, “Hospice care is a cause close to our hearts and following consultation with both our staff and customers we decided to do something that will have a long-lasting impact on communities across the UK. These grants are essential to this ongoing work and will help ensure that patients and their families receive top quality care.”
Notes for editors:
For further information and images contact:
Help the Hospices (UK): Jo Pratt tel: 0208 699 6566, e-mail : jo*****@jo*****.com
HSA: Abby Bowman, tel: 01264 342561 email: ab*********@hs*.uk
About Help the Hospices
Help the Hospices is the national charity for the hospice movement, supporting over 200 local hospices in their vital work on the front line of caring for people who face the end of life. Hospices provide a wide range of care for people living with terminal illness and their families, from in-patient beds to day care and care for people in their own homes. The UK government contributes an average of 33% of running costs for adult hospices and less than 5% for children’s (England) – the rest has to be found by charitable fundraising (note: based on latest figures available)
www.helpthehospices.org.uk.
About HSA
HSA is one of the UK’s leading providers of healthcare solutions, and has been helping individuals, families and organisations access affordable healthcare since 1922, a history which pre-dates the NHS. HSA is a trading division of Simplyhealth Group and is a provider of Cash Plans, Private Medical Insurance and Dental Plans. HSA Cash Plans provide a funding solution to help meet the cost of everyday healthcare and HSA Personal Medical Plans provide private medical cover for treatment in the UK.
Jo Pratt
Help the Hospices Press Office
jo*****@jo*****.com
T: 020 8699 6566
www.helpthehospices.org.uk
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.