The work carried out by our family support and counselling team has never been in greater demand, as the pandemic has sadly increased the need for bereavement support.
The number of sessions provided has increased year on year and throughout 2021-22 we continued to provide a mix of online and face to face support, a blend which we think will continue into the future and a development which helps those we support access our services in a way that suits them.
A total of 1392 sessions has been delivered to patients, carers, children and young people, and has included vital pre-bereavement work. Quotes like the one below highlight just how important these sessions are.
I didn’t for one minute think the kind of support I’ve had would ever be in place. People know about the care for patients, but nobody realises what’s available to the people left behind, it’s incredible.
Recognising the vital importance of this work, the Hospice continued to invest in these services and in 2021-22 we brought in another counsellor to the team and also a second child and family practitioner. Overall, an increase in activity of 100% was seen across these services, which is a clear indication of how important these services are, and how integral they will be to our evolving work.
