ST Mary's Hospice is set to lose up to £200,000 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

All services and facilities at the Ulverston-based hospice are currently under review in response to the lockdown.

Face-to-face Living Well and Bereavement services have been suspended but Hospice at Home visits will continue following a 'phone ahead' policy to ensure patients are not experiencing coronavirus symptoms.

The hospice's Living Well Centre in Duke Street, Barrow, has been converted into a central hub for self-isolation support groups while hospice staff are supporting the NHS by visiting additional patients in their homes.

Bosses are confident that plans to re-open inpatient care will go ahead as scheduled on April 20.

Chief executive Val Stangoe said: “This is a difficult and uncertain time which has needed collaboration by many different people across our community and St Mary’s Hospice is proud to be a part of this collaboration to make sure vital care and support is delivered.

"We hope our expert and skilled staff, resources and links, can help ease a small part of the burden on the NHS in our area and best serve our community.

“We are working hard to position St Mary’s: our services and resources to deliver the right support for our community and Health Service at this time.

"So that’s meant looking at everything we do, what our community needs and keeping our patients, families, volunteers and staff safe, following the correct protocols.

"As you can imagine we have been overwhelmed at the support making a big difference to families in need.

"TK Maxx staff donated many items including toiletries, Bay Horse, Hawcoat Lane Barrow and Barrow Facebook Self Isolation Group donated groceries, Kimberly-Clark provided loo rolls and tissues, Hayes Garden World supplied flowers to the hospice and the Living Well Centre to help keep spirits high!

"We are grateful to everyone and these acts of generosity show what an incredible community we live in.”

The hospice expects the overall financial impact of the coronavirus lockdown will result in a 23 per cent reduction in income over the year. All charity shops have closed along with the cafe in Ulverston.

Jo Blake, St Mary’s Head of Clinical Services: “As well as supporting community nursing teams to care for patients with palliative needs, our Hospice at Home team is also providing care for other patients, helping to keep people out of hospital. Working with local NHS teams, we aim to maintain a good level of support within the community, even when the In-Patient Unit re-opens.”

Frequently Asked Questions

Are hospice services continuing as normal?

Here at St Mary’s Hospice we’ve looked at every service separately to see how we can best keep the people using our services, their families, our staff and our volunteers safe during this crisis while still providing the care that is needed.

What about the usual Hospice Services?

Living Well and Bereavement Services: We have cancelled face to face services because most of our clients fall into the group where it is recommended to self-isolate. Instead of this we’re keeping in touch by phone and also working to make sure they can access medication or food. Bereavement services are also being provided by phone. This means we can comply with the directive to provide physical distance between individuals (social distancing).

Hospice at Home: Hospice at Home continues as normal using a ‘phone ahead’ protocol where staff check before a visit:

a) if the person still wants someone to enter their house

b) if anyone in the house has COVID symptoms

Some support is being provided by phone when a home visit is not needed.

As well as supporting community nursing teams to care for patients with palliative needs, our team are also providing care for other patients, helping to keep people out of hospital. Working with local NHS teams, we aim to maintain a good level of support within the community, even when the In-Patient Unit re-opens.

Complementary Therapy: This service has stopped for present and staff will be deployed into our clinical team.

What else are you doing?

Living Well Centre: We’ve turned the Living Well Centre into a telephone hub for people in the Barrow area who are self-isolating. Enquiries to this line can access food, medicines or a friendly chat. There is a group of charities working as partners in the building to deliver whatever is needed. There is also a drop off point for donations of food or other necessaries.

From our Ulverston building: From our Ulverston building - some staff are able to do their normal job from home while those staff who cannot do their normal jobs at this time are running reception for us and as time goes on will help by working on laundry and kitchen services.

What are your volunteers doing?

One third of our volunteers are over 70 and we hope they are all self-isolating safely. We’re offering support to those who don’t have support living locally. We’re grateful that some volunteers are still able to work in our shops, café and offices.

Will the hospice beds still re-open in April?

We’re still on track for our beds to open on 20 April. However it is likely they may open earlier than this with some support from the local NHS. We will then be part of the plan for palliative patients and others who need to be discharged smoothly from hospital beds.

But you will still open the beds again?

Yes, that’s our plan. It will just be a timing issue.

What about events?

All events the hospice had organised for the Spring and early Summer have had to be cancelled for the moment and we hope to reschedule some of them in Autumn. We hope you’ll join us then!

What about events other people put on for you?

Some of these have been cancelled and some are being reviewed regularly to make the right decision at the right time

What about your shops?

All St Mary’s Hospice Shops and Warehouse are now closed until further notice. We would like to thank all our loyal customers and donors for your support and look forward to seeing you all again soon. May we please request that at this difficult time NO donations are left outside the shops?

What about the café? The café has now closed for the duration, we will let you know as soon as it’s open and look forward to welcoming you back with cake and a cuppa as soon as we can.

What does this mean for the hospice financially? The hospice needs to raise 2.9m a year to carry on. We expect to lose between £100 000 and £200 000 in the early months of the coronavirus crisis. Over the year we expect to see a drop in income of about 24%. It is critical that we start to raise funds again as soon as possible after the situation is safe.”