How would Strathcarron use a £3,000 YPI Grant ?

Strathcarron offers a wide range of services to our patients both in the Hospice building and out in peoples own homes-all our services are provided free of charge. Every patient journey is different and services accessed will be dependent on their individual diagnosis and stage of illness.

• Question: What ages of people do you look after ?

We care for patients aged 18 years and upwards from the moment of referral-this can be in their own homes or in our In-patient unit. The average age of a patient in our In-patient unit is 50 years old.

• Question: Why do people choose Strathcarron Hospice to help them?

Many of our patients or their families can contact us directly for help or advice from the moment they have been diagnosed with their  illness or condition-they may simply need some reassurance about the early stages of their condition or require more input or care from our team at home or to come into the Hospice.

• Question: When do patients come in to the Hospice ?

Patients come into the Hospice for a variety of reasons, some only for a short period of time or longer if necessary. This can include a period of respite if they have family considerations, or pain management to have their medication reviewed, or for end of life care.

Many of our patients prefer to stay at home and would receive end of life care from our team surrounded by people and things that they love. During the COVID-pandemic we saw a huge increase in requests for our Hospice@Home service.

• Question: Do you help children ?

Yes, we also provide Bereavement and family support to all family members including children, from the moment of diagnosis and beyond.

• Question: How many people work at Strathcarron ?

We have 248 Employees (paid staff) across all the various teams. We also have a team of over 600 Volunteers (un-paid) who assist staff across all areas of the Hospice-(with the exception of medical roles within our IPU.)

We would not be able to operate without the support of our incredible Volunteers helping us.

• Question: What is our Charity hoping to achieve over the next 5 years ?

We hope to expand our services to reach more people who are living with a life limiting condition and give them palliative care and support. This would either be through accessing our wide range of Hospice services or engaging with community based projects.

• Question: What are our short term goals. ?

We hope to reach people much sooner in their diagnosis. The sooner they receive palliative care and support, then the better outcome they will have. Our team aim to support both the patient and their families. Finding out what is important to them to make the most of the time that they have.

As a charity, every day we need to find over £15,000 in donations to keep our services running. Without financial support from donations we would not be able to provide our services.

• Question: Is our charity struggling with anything ?

-NHS budgets are decreasing on an on-going basis, this means there is a greater need for people to access our palliative care services.