St Christopher’s Hospice, the home of the modern hospice movement, was pleased to welcome The Mayor of Bromley, Councillor Jonathan Andrews, and The Mayoress of Bromley, Mrs Theresa Andrews, to a newly refurbished ward on Friday 6 March.
The Mayor and Mayoress met with the hospice’s Care Director, Amanda Mayo and other clinical staff as he was shown the refurbishment of the hospice’s Inpatient Unit, which is being partly funded by the government’s capital funding grant for hospices in England.
They also met with patients who were staying on the newly refurbished Alex Ward.
St Christopher’s Inpatient Unit, which is made up of three wards, is undergoing a £3.6M upgrade, of which more than £2M came from the government’s emergency funding for hospices, announced in December 2024.
The upgrades at St Christopher’s are focused on improving the look and feel of the Inpatient Unit, making rooms bigger and more homely, and addressing essential infrastructure issues on a building which is almost 60 years old.
The work also includes enhancing staff areas for the dedicated teams and the installation of a hoist system so people can be moved more safely and comfortably, whilst also protecting staff.
In total, the government gave out £100M of capital funding to adult hospices in England over two years.
Amanda Mayo, Care Director of St Christopher’s, says: “It was a pleasure to welcome the Mayor and Mayoress of Bromley to St Christopher’s and to showcase the important work our hospice carries out for the community. We were delighted to show the newly refurbished ward and how these improvements will help us create more welcoming, comfortable spaces for the people in our care.
“We are grateful for the capital funding that has enabled these upgrades, and for the recognition it represents of the vital role hospices play within the wider health and care system.
“As the home of the modern hospice movement, we believe that everyone should have access to high‑quality palliative and end of life care when they need it, which requires a sustainable funding model for hospices.”
The Mayor of Bromley, Councillor Jonathan Andrews said: “The Mayoress and I were very pleased to have the opportunity to visit St Christopher’s Hospice – and in particular the hospice’s newly refurbished Alex Ward – to see first-hand the support that St Christopher’s provides to people in Bromley and further afield, and to have the chance to speak directly with patients about their experiences. I commend St Christopher’s Hospice for its important work to ensure that hospice users and those around them are cared for and treated with respect.”
