NHS Charities Together, via the Heads On Charity, award funds to help provide end of life care for people in their own homes.

St Catherine's Hospice, the hospice care charity for West Sussex and East Surrey, is part of a collaboration of Sussex Hospices to successfully apply for a major grant from NHS Charities Together. The £100,000 award was given to the seven adult hospices in Sussex to provide hospice care to patients discharged from hospital. The grant is shared equally between the hospices and will be used to help fund a Clinical Nurse Specialist in each hospice to provide patient care and support when people leave hospital.

All hospices in Sussex have seen an increase in demand for community services during the pandemic. The grant from NHS Charities Together has been made available via the Heads On Charity in Sussex as part of a programme to support NHS and healthcare charities dealing with the impact of COVID-19. Heads On is making the grant on behalf of all Sussex NHS charities as part of the NHSCT Community Partnership grants programme which aims to reduce the stress on the NHS and to support the provision of wrap-around care for individuals and communities where it is vitally needed. 

This is the first time that the group of Sussex Hospices have worked together to apply for a joint grant. They identified that by working together they could have greater impact across the whole of Sussex. The hospices are: St Catherine's Hospice, Martlets, St Barnabas House, St Michael's Hospice, St Peter & St James Hospice, St Wilfrid's Hospice Eastbourne and St Wilfrid's Hospice Chichester.  The hospices are being supported by 'Heads On', the charity for the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, who will co-ordinate and distribute the funding from NHS Charities Together.  

The members of the Sussex Hospice collaboration provide care for the majority of their patients with life-limiting conditions in their own homes. In 2019/2020 before the impact of COVID-19 Sussex hospices made 52,486 home visits to 7,679 patients across Sussex. During the first 6 months of the pandemic there was an average 22% increase in demand for community services. Hospice care supports families to look after loved ones with terminal illness at home providing expert medical care that includes symptom control and pain relief. The grant will specifically support 'effective discharge' from hospitals including preventing unnecessary and distressing re-admissions.

Jacquie Thomas, Trusts and Major Giving Officer at St Catherine's commented, "I am absolutely delighted to find out that we have received this important funding and I'm very grateful to NHS Charities Together and to the Heads On Charity for their support.  This is the first time hospices across Sussex have worked together to successfully apply for a grant that will have the greatest impact for local people across the county. An award of this size also recognises the work of hospices across Sussex and what we do to support people with end-of-life conditions, helping them to stay out of hospital and be at home where they want to be."

Rachael Duke, Head of the Heads On Charity, said: "We are extremely grateful to NHS Charities Together for their support and funding. We are truly excited to be working with such fantastic organisations, to deliver projects across Sussex that will address health inequalities, suicide prevention and supported hospital discharge. We look forward to seeing the impact of these projects as they begin delivery over the coming months."