Depending on where you live, you may not know that St Ann’s has two hospices in Greater Manchester – one in Little Hulton, Salford and one in Heald Green, Stockport.
Understandably, most people know and care deeply about the hospice that is closest to where they live – especially if it was where we cared for a loved one in their final days.
Both of our hospice sites are hugely important to us as we plan for the future care needs of Greater Manchester and parts of Cheshire and look to safeguard hospice care for future generations.
The benefits of having two hospices in Greater Manchester
Operating more than one hospice site means that our care can be provided more locally and patients and loved ones never need travel too far to come to our hospice.
With the pressure on NHS beds and an ageing population, we know that there will continue to be demand for our services and the need for both hospices.
Operating two hospices in Greater Manchester also gives us advantages of size and scale. No hospice is unaffected by the current economic climate including the pressure on household budgets and rising energy costs. But being a bigger organisation operating across a larger patch means we are better placed to weather the storm than we would otherwise be.
Investing for future generations
We have recently invested in our hospice in Little Hulton, including re-imagining the reception, cafe and outdoor areas so that patients and their loved ones can enjoy time together in a more relaxing, modern environment. We have also upgraded our medical equipment, beds, and furniture in our Being You Centre and family rooms.
The next investment in our hospices is a purpose-built new hospice in Heald Green. Our current hospice there occupies an old Victorian building that has served us well, but which is now showing its age and costing us many thousands each year in expensive repairs and maintenance. Unlike our more modern hospice in Little Hulton, it has very few private bedrooms for patients and very limited outdoor space.
The new hospice will include individual en-suite rooms and access to private outdoor terraces. It will have a brand-new education centre which will be used to train all our staff in the latest advancements in end-of-life and palliative care.
The improved facilities will also mean we can welcome many more health professionals to our specialist training. We will be able to rent rooms and have a bigger coffee shop that is open to the public – all providing valuable revenue streams and giving us money to invest in providing exceptional care at both our hospices, as well as in the community.
We hope that no matter where you live, you will support our plans for a new hospice in Heald Green. But rest assured, our Little Hulton hospice remains as important to St Ann’s as ever.
