Pembridge Life Newsletter Issue 4
The people of Pembridge tell their stories.
Your support helps people living with a terminal illness and their families to make the most of their time.
With your support, together we can uplift the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of our patients. This means people and their families can to live their lives to the fullest, whatever that means to them.
While some people are only with us for a matter of days, others need months or years of support.
To read more about our clinical services, visit the clinical hospice website here. Or read on for more information about how your gifts can help our patients.
In any one week we care for more than 200 people living with terminal illnesses and their families.
From our hospice just off Ladbroke Grove we serve a diverse area of 300,000 people.
With rehabilitation assistant Vanessa Edoimioya
“I help to maintain and improve our patients’ independence at home. This means they are more secure in the day to day activities that most people take for granted.”
could fund a day of rehabilitation sessions that help people to live at home with independence and dignity
With massage therapists Tanya and Marco
“Massage provides pain relief and eases anxiety when people are going through a very difficult time”
could provide two therapeutic massage sessions that help to alleviate pain and anxiety
With volunteer manager Dil Chowdhury-Mahi
“Volunteers make the hospice a better place by spending time with patients, gardening, supporting the charity, helping at events and much more.”
With art teacher Dr Bronwyn Platten
“Sometimes patients can be in pain, feeling lonely or just a bit down. In our art sessions we work together to help them unlock their creativity and enjoy life.”
could fund enough supplies for two weeks of creative art sessions that help patients to enjoy life and forget about their illness
With the InterAct team: Nigel, Richard and Eva
“Reading helps people to relax and reflect on their lives by sharing stories.”
The palliative care we provide is focused around improving and maintaining quality of life. You also help to do this by funding:
The room gives families somewhere to sleep or just refresh themselves when they are spending as much time with their loved one as possible.
Fresh flowers, plants and seasonal decorations all help to make Pembridge a home away from home for patients and their families.
Little extras like birthday presents for patients with no family help to ensure that our patients feel valued.
We take a holistic, compassionate approach to improving quality of life for our patients and their families.
Doctors, nurses, healthcare assistants, social workers, complementary therapists and our spiritual care advisor all work together to help people face the challenges of living with a terminal illness.
The three main teams providing care at Pembridge are:
The in-patient unit. 13 beds providing 24-hour care for patients with specialist palliative care needs who need continual assessment.
The day hospice. Treatment, support and complementary therapies for patients visiting Pembridge.
The community specialist palliative care team. Providing advice and support to patients in their own homes.
The NHS funds most of the basic care at Pembridge, while the charity helps to enhance this and fund lots of extras.
The World Health Organisation defines palliative (end of life) care as follows:
“Palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problem associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual.”