With the cost of care rapidly rising, Garden House Hospice Care is appealing to its local community to help fund a few minutes of the vital services it provides for patients, families and carers throughout Stevenage and North Hertfordshire.

Every day the Letchworth-based Hospice needs to generate £9,500 to fund its services - a 27% increase (£2,000) in the last two years.

As well as soaring energy prices – up 50% in the last year, with further rises due – and higher fuel costs for the vehicles driven by the community team, the charity has seen a 28% growth in referrals. To meet demand, new staff have been employed and it has recently expanded its day services into the Ernest Gardiner Centre in Letchworth. In addition, clinical teams received a pay rise last year in line with the NHS salary increases.

To help meet rising costs the Hospice has launched an appeal, asking supporters to Fund a Few Minutes of its care.

Liz Kennedy is Director of Patient Services at Garden House Hospice Care:

"We keep a really close eye on our expenditure, but the cost of care is rising rapidly – we know our utility bills will continue to go up alone. We now need to raise £6.60 every minute to cover our full running costs, which as we continue to recover from the impact of the pandemic on fundraising, is a significant target."

A few minutes might not sound a lot, but in a few minutes at the Hospice:

A counsellor can make a phone call to a parent, worried about how to tell their children that dad's illness is not going to get better, to explain how we can help.

A doctor or nurse can welcome, reassure and support a new patient and their family on admission to our Inpatient Unit.

A carer can take a breather while our health care assistants are providing care and support to their loved one at home. 

A specialist nurse can listen to and plan with a care home resident their needs and wishes.

A Zoom seated exercise can begin, allowing people across the county to join in from their living room.

"Our promise is that a gift of a few minutes will enable us to take actions, make decisions and support people in that moment, with an impact that will last far longer on the individual and their loved ones too," said Liz. 

 A few minutes changed everything for Collette. Her mum, Elizabeth, had advanced dementia. She felt she had nowhere left to turn when she called Lucy, our Admiral Nurse who specialises in dementia care.  

"We felt like we were getting nowhere, that the changes we could see in mum were being dismissed, like they thought that because she had dementia and was in a care home she didn't matter," Collette recalled. 

"But Lucy listened. She talked to me, reassured me, and it was the first time we had a clear answer about how mum was."

Their call prompted a series of actions from Lucy. She contacted Elizabeth's GP, and with our specialist palliative consultant, they made a plan to bring her into the hospice. After months of struggling to get answers, Collette felt heard. A simple phone call was all it took – and she will never forget it.

To help Fund a Few Minutes, please visit www.ghhospicecare.org.uk/minutes or call 01462 679540.