12 August 2010
New Government Grant Funds Major Developments at Keech Hospice Care
See the BBC coverage here
Keech Hospice Care in Luton, which provides care for adults and children in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Milton Keynes, has been awarded £200,000 as part of a government scheme providing £40m to hospices around the UK.
The government funding will be used to extend the Day Hospice building, providing more room and better facilities for adult patients and their families.Current toilet and bathroom facilities in the Day Hospice will be refurbished and access from reception will be improved. The reception area will also be improved and enlarged to cope with the visitors we receive. In addition to these changes, the laundry facilities will be modernised to make them more efficient and cost effective for the Hospice.
“This grant will fund most of the building work we have planned and we are completing applications to trusts to fund the outstanding amount. This funding is absolutely critical to us being able to extend the services we can offer patients and visitors to the whole Hospice,” said Mike Keel, Deputy Chief Executive at Keech Hospice Care. “While the work is extensive, we have planned it carefully to minimise disruption to care. The Hospice will continue to function normally, offering all our regular care services to patients. The Government has stipulated that the refurbishment must be completed by March 2011, which means our site will be very busy with builders and equipment from mid-November to end of March and will affect our business conference suite and Light Up A Life ceremony.”
With the new improvements, the business conference facilities at the Hospice will be reduced. “We’re disappointed not to be able to provide this service to our local business community any longer,” explained Mike Keel, “but our priority has to be to provide the best possible facilities for our patients and temporarily changing the use of this area to facilitate the needs of our Day Hospice was the only viable way to do it.
“We have worked closely with our business customers to ensure they are able to source alternative suitable venues in plenty of time before their events and I’d like to thank them all for being so supportive and understanding.”
