FAQ's

What does palliative care mean?
The type of care that the hospice provides is called palliative care.  This type of care is designed to control any symptoms that may be experienced and to ensure that patients live as full and pain free lives as possibile.

Are we independently run?
Yes.  Farleigh Hospice is a registered charity (no. 284670) and a company registered with limited liability (no. 1619905).  The charity is managed by a Board of Trustees all of whom are members of the local community.

How much help did/do we get from the Government?
Grants for the building fund totalling £730,000 were received from local statutory bodies including Chelmsford Borough Council, Essex County Council, Maldon District Council, the Essex Strategic Health Authority and a number of Parish Councils.

For our ongoing caring costs we currently receive a contribution from the local NHS Trusts equivalent to 39% of charitable expenditure, above the England average of 31%.  Negotiations with local NHS partners have secured a similar percentage level of funding for the additional services planned for the new Farleigh Hospice.

How many staff and volunteers do we have?
We currently have approx 150 full and part time staff and over 1000 volunteers. As our services increase, so will the number of staff and volunteers.

Where does our money come from?
Farleigh Hospice has six main sources of income and aims to balance risk by maintaining this mixture of voluntary and statutory income sources. 
NHS Grant – 39%
Legacies – 20%
Shops profits – 6%
Lottery proceeds – 9%
Donations – 13%
Fundraising – 13%

How long do patients stay?
Only 11% of our work takes place in the in-patient unit with the majority taking place either in patients own homes or at our day hospices or clinics.  The average length of stay in the in-patient unit is 9 days with 66% of our patients returning home or into nursing care after their stay.

What is the average age of our patients?
Hospice provides its services to any adult over the age of 18 with a life limiting illness.  However, as almost 90% of our patients have cancer, which is predominantly a disease of the elderly, just over 70% of our patients are over 65.   The increase in single bedded rooms and additional space in the day hospice can enable more flexible admissions and more age appropriate services for younger adults.

If we are an adult hospice, why do we need a children’s area?
The Family Room can be used by children and/or grandchildren of patients as well as for Bereavement care on an individual or group basis for children and young people.

What links do we have to the NHS?
In addition to our financial partnership with the NHS we work closely with primary health care teams and hospitals to meet the needs of our patients.  Our links therefore focus on receiving referrals from the NHS, providing training to NHS professionals, and ensuring care plans involve all relevant voluntary and statutory agencies.  Our medical team also provide sessions within Broomfield Hospital. 

Is there the need for increased services?
Even with the limits of the old building the past 5 years have seen the amount of patient activity double.  With advances in medicine, people are now living longer with life limiting illnesses and so the need for care increases. The new building has been designed to address this in providing more flexible services that patients can ‘dip in and out.’  The increased number of cancer patients anticipated due to the ageing population and the complexity of their needs along with increases in services for non-cancer patients will also be addressed as will the needs of children for pre and post bereavement support.

What are our predictions for future care?
The new Farleigh Hospice has been built in response to the need for specialist hospice services within the mid Essex area.  The charity is part of the National Council for Hospice and Specialist Palliative Care services which has recently produced a report called 20:20 looking at the future need for Hospice services.  Amongst other things this highlights the following needs:
a) Although people are living longer they are spending a greater period of their latter life in poor health
b) Hospice services have traditionally provided for people with cancer and 1 in 3 people are likely to develop cancer at some point in their lives. 
c) There will be an increasing demand for non-cancer patients to receive hospice services.  Currently 16% of Hospice patients have a disease other than cancer.
d) Over the last five years the amount of patient activity at Hospice has doubled