Achievements & Impact
St Catherine’s Hospice provides specialised palliative care for patients with a range of conditions such as cancer, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis, heart failure, Parkinson's disease, respiratory conditions and so on. We are here for when it matters most.
St Catherine's is an independent local registered charity, we are not the NHS and we are not Macmillan. Services are provided free of charge and countless patients, carers and their families speak of our care as 'beyond price'.
On 7th December 1981, Kitty Sharples organised the signing of our founding document and the Hospice opened in 1985. Since that time the pioneering spirit of St Catherine's has led to innovation and continuous development in every year of our history.
Innovation and continuous development
Since those heady days of 1985 the Hospice has grown in size offering more beds, more services and ever increasing possibilities to help people live as fully as possible with incurable medical conditions.
Recent developments include new training for staff working in nursing homes to reduce the necessity of unplanned hospital admissions; a new befriending service to support carers; a 24/7 professional advice line and the introduction of the first paediatric Lymphoedema service in the North West.
The clinical and healthcare teams at the Hospice are led by experienced consultants and have a commitment to continuous professional development to ensure their skills and knowledge are at the forefront of new developments.
To ensure healthcare professionals from different disciplines working with patients at St Catherine’s have access to up-to-date patient information, the Hospice has introduced the latest electronic patient information system linked directly to the 'NHS spine'. SystmOne helps us to provide effective continuity of care between different care settings. This is complemented by a video conferencing unit to enable all relevant expertise to be brought together when it is needed.
Continued commitment and support
St Catherine’s has been successfully providing specialised palliative care since 1985. We currently need £4.9m each year to provide these much needed care services and most of this has to come from charitable giving. So every donation, no matter how small, is vital. The ongoing wonderful support from local people is a reflection of the value of St Catherine’s to the local area. It is your generosity that makes your local Hospice and helps us to care for your local friends, neighbours and relatives when they need it most.
To make local donations go further the Hospice has always worked hard to win grants and awards from the Department of Health, charitable trusts, lotteries and so on, success has usually been in recognition of the quality of care provided. Recent awards have created more single rooms for patients with en-suite facilities, a new kitchen, a new outpatient clinic, refurbished day therapy facilities and a new reception area, entrance and car park. All these have been greatly appreciated by patients, carers and families.
This all helps to make your donations more effective and with the added support of our wonderful volunteers we manage to turn every £1 donated into £9. We cannot stress enough how we continue to be amazed by the fantastic support that we receive from local people without whom we simply wouldn't be here. Thank you for all that you do!
