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Around Town Editor visits Huddersfield's Kirkwood Hospice.
LIKE many other people, I had rather pre-conceived ideas about visiting a hospice.
I imagined it to be rather a sombre place where the terminally ill arrived in great pain to spend their final days and hours. I imagined friends and families sitting around with drawn, tear-stained faces while they waited to receive bad news from doctors and nurses.
Most of all I imagined a hospice to be a quiet and rather sad place, where laughter would be totally out of place and everything was rather dour and clinical.
How wrong could I be?
Huddersfield’s Kirkwood Hospice – which is just about to celebrate its 20th anniversary – said goodbye to all those pre-conceptions in just a few seconds when I visited recently. With its bright and cheery ambience, welcoming reception staff, beautiful gardens and bustling environment, the hospice is a place to celebrate life.
Even the patients themselves seem to love its zest for life. Top class staff do their jobs with experience, tenderness and care and work alongside the many volunteers who give up part of each week to help maintain this vital service for the town.
Many patients, and their loved ones, are scared of what awaits them in a hospice but at Kirkwood this fear is soon allayed. Instead patients discover a cheerful, loving environment where they can appreciate the kindness and dedication of excellent nursing staff.
It’s a time for easing pain, for enjoying Mother Nature at her best in Kirkwood’s beautiful gardens and for spending quality time with family and friends.
Of course there are sad times at Kirkwood when patients lose their fight for life – but their final moments are made so much easier because of the very nature of hospice care.
Hospices have been described as one of the greatest social innovations of our lifetime. Hospices and the palliative care movement have helped to transform the ideas and practice relating to the care of the seriously ill and dying and those close to them.
A hospice aims to meet the needs of people from all cultures and religions. Some have a Christian foundation but all of them welcome everyone. The word `hospice’ was first connected with the care of the dying in 1842 when Madame Jeanne Garnier founded the Dames de Calvaire in Lyon, France. This was followed by the opening of a hospice in Dublin in 1879 and London in 1905.
The first modern hospice, St Christopher’s in South London, opened in 1967 and set the standard for a worldwide movement of hospice care to radically change the approach to death and dying. Staff in hospices all work together to give freedom from pain, dignity, peace and calm at the end of life.
Years ago the terminally ill were forced to spend their final days in normal hospital wards where their special needs were often overlooked. Many spent their final days in fear and loneliness with no comfort from specially trained staff and no privacy where they could enjoy their own thoughts and time with loved ones.
It was this knowledge that led a group of local Huddersfield people to come together in 1981 and first discuss ambitious plans to build a hospice for the town and surrounding areas.
Following an article in the local newspaper, eight people met at the home of David Stocks, a local man who had just seen his own father suffer and die of cancer and who believed there must be a more effective way to help those dying of terminal illness.
The newspaper article about a play, in which two elderly men were dying of cancer in hospital, gave Mr Stocks the incentive to start the ball rolling.
Among the eight people who attended the first meeting was 83-year-old Vera Drake, who still works as a volunteer every week at Kirkwood Hospice.
She decided to get involved after watching a friend died from a brain tumour. Vera said: “It was so sad to see her spending her final days isolated and lonely in a hospital ward with elderly people. At the time of her death, I thought there must be a better way to nurse people with terminal illness.’’
The first meeting had a collection to start the much needed fundraising for the hospice. Eight people donated 50p to the funds but this was swelled to £4.50 with an extra 50p found by Mr Stocks’s dog while out for his evening walk.
The hard work of these eight people was to set in motion a chain of events which saw local people fundraising right across the area and in 1986 Mr Stocks and Dr Alan Barlow laid the foundation stone for Kirkwood Hospice at Albany Road, Dalton. Following months of building work the hospice opened in March 1987.
As it now approaches its 20th anniversary, it’s a time for great reflection. Indeed Vera herself says: “It really is amazing what we have achieved. From very small beginnings we have created and maintained a vital service for Huddersfield people. I am so proud of what we have all achieved.’’
Visit Kirkwood Hospice now and you’ll enter a large and airy main reception area leading to the various departments, including the Support & Therapy Centre which provides day care for patients living with life threatening illness, but who are well enough to live in their own homes. They attend Kirkwood on a weekly basis for medical care, support, advice and a range of therapies and workshops, available for both patients and carers.
One of the corridors leads to the 16-bed in-patient unit where a team of nurses and doctors provides care for patients; sometimes pain & symptom control and sometimes, of course, end of life care. Although this is obviously an area reserved for staff and visiting family and friends, one knows the whole cheery ambience of Kirkwood, its staff and volunteers will help to make each day more worthwhile and lived to the full.
During my visit I met with Garry Wilkinson, fundraising and marketing manager at Kirkwood, who says everyone is finding it hard to believe the hospice has been open 20 years.
He said: “Although I have only worked here for the last 12 months – previously working in a similar role at St Oswald’s Hospice in Newcastle - I know from talking to people that the local community has been totally dedicated over the last 20 years to keeping their hospice running.’’
When plans were initially made for a local hospice, it was decided to combine the efforts in both Huddersfield and Dewsbury to create one facility for the whole of Kirklees. Being centrally located in Dalton, the hospice is accessible for people from all over the authority and associated drop-in centres at Elmwood Health Centre in Holmfirth and Rosewood Medical Centre at Dewsbury make it a great facility for all.
Garry said: “Since Kirkwood opened it has provided care for over 6,500 in-patients, provided much-needed day care, bereavement services and a palliative care team of nurses who visit patients in their own homes.
“Contrary to popular belief a hospice is not just a place where patients stay at the end of their lives. Often patients will attend the hospice for pain or symptom control. Once this has been treated they can then go home, but can be re-admitted again if their pain or symptoms change.
“Of course we only have a limited number of beds available so we liaise closely with local GPs and hospitals to maximise the availability of beds and ensure facilities are there for people who need them most.’’
Garry and his team oversee a massive amount of voluntary fundraising and donations each year. Financial estimates for 2007 predict Kirkwood will need over £3.4 million to maintain the current level of service. Of this less than 20% is funded by the local Primary Care Trusts so over £2.7 million needs to be raised locally.
“Put simply Kirkwood Hospice would not survive without the generosity of the local public,’’ said Garry. Every year local people hold coffee mornings, sponsored walks and all kinds of other voluntary fundraising events.’’
Over the years a network of 10 Kirkwood Hospice charity shops have sprung up all over the area from Batley to Holmfirth, Lindley to the town centre. Staff in the shops are each assisted by a team of dedicated volunteers, ensuring that these shops play a vital role in fundraising.
So too does the Kirkwood Hospice Lottery which offers a weekly first prize of £500 and has been well supported since its launch in 2000, with over 2,300 players. Anyone can play on a weekly basis for just £1 a week and every penny in profit contributes towards patient care at the hospice.
During my visit I was lucky enough to meet several hospice staff and volunteers. One of the staff, Senior Sister Gillian Hinchliffe works at the very heart of hospice care, nursing patients through their final days.
Having worked at Kirkwood since the very beginning, she says that, contrary to popular belief, hospices are very happy places.
“Patients often tell me they feel safe and relaxed here. After all these years of working with terminally ill patients I still love my work and get a lot of satisfaction from helping patients and their families through very difficult times. As nursing staff we only get one chance to help the terminally ill and we always do our best to help them make the most of their final days.’’
If you want to get involved with fundraising for Kirkwood there is a whole calendar of events coming up in 2007 including a hospice ball, 20/20 Challenge, Midnight Memory Walk and much more. Get more details from the fundraising team on 01484 557911 or take a look at the website www.kirkwoodhospice.co.uk
Remember the fundraising target for this year is £2.7 million. Why not do your bit to preserve this vital facility for the area?
Finally, congratulations to Kirkwood Hospice on this 20th anniversary. It was really nice to pay a visit and meet staff and volunteers!