Coronavirus lockdown will cost Greenwich and Bexley Community Hospice £1m

A hospice which cares for more than 400 people a day will be short of £1million before the coronavirus lockdown is over.

Greenwich & Bexley Community Hospice and its nurses and doctors are working on through the coronavirus lockdown – but fundraising has been halted.

The charity has also had to close its 17 shops, hitting a huge portion of its income.

The hospice has an Inpatient Unit at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, but also provides palliative care for people in their own homes – 700 this week alone.

A statement from the hospice said: “Right now, our nurses and doctors are stepping forward, ready to do whatever it takes to ensure patients continue to receive the highest quality, compassionate care and support that we can give.

“We are finding new ways to meet growing demand as well as deliver safe care to all our patients. We are using technology wherever we can to enable care to be available to everyone that needs it.

“People are contacted by Skype or telephone by nurses and volunteers for a friendly chat as well as medical advice, as well as making home visits when it is safe.

“Our nurses are currently on lockdown on the ward with the patients for each of their 12-hour shifts so that the virus has as little chance as possible of reaching the critically ill patients inside.

“We are now asking our community for help with funding, too – your support will allow us to focus on what’s most important: our patients and those closest to them.”

Fundraising staff are trying to reschedule or run some events differently –  for example its Mini Marathon has now ‘gone virtual’ – so children on the fundraiser are doing the 2.6-mile run as part of their daily exercise regime during lockdown.

Well-wishers have also donated protective equipment and sent in treats for staff.

Chief executive Kate Heaps said: “I cannot tell you how fantastic the whole hospice team have been.

“Everyone has rallied together, nurses in all settings, our doctors, our social worker, physiotherapists, admin staff, housekeepers, estates, fundraisers, shop staff, the support staff and our amazing volunteers.

“All are doing whatever needs to be done to ensure we are able to keep going and to provide care wherever it is needed.

“This is a scary time for everyone, but all of the team continue to put our patients, their families and the hospice first.

“They all make me so proud and they make the difficult job of leading the hospice so much easier.

“Without our charity shops, or our loyal local supporters raising money for us through events, we are expecting a huge shortfall in funding over the coming months, we are likely to be down at least £1m over the next two months.

“This is at the very time when our nurses, doctors and other staff will be needed more than ever – as the health service faces its biggest challenge.”

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Pictured top: Hospice patient Raj with Physio Amy and Raj’s carer, Molly