“We have an opportunity to develop our hospice into a regional centre of excellence and innovation and make our future more sustainable by offering a wider range of support options to more people in the local community.” That is the vision of the hospice’s Director of Clinical Services, Claire Royce. Marking her first anniversary in the role, Claire explained: “We really are excellent at what we do but we are inevitably limited by our current capacity and budget restrictions. There are however clear opportunities for us to do more and achieve more on behalf of the many in our community who could benefit from our expertise and support.”
Wrexham-born Claire has over 23 years’ experience working for the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board as a Staff Nurse and Ward Sister, specialising in General Medicine, Endocrinology and Haematology. A CrossFit trainer in her spare time, Claire worked with the Specialist Palliative Care Team in North Wales for 14 years, initially working as a Macmillan Clinical Nurse Specialist and latterly as the Lead Nurse of Specialist Palliative Care and Quality in North East Wales.
“The hospice movement was created to provide care and comfort for the dying but what we are currently able to deal with is the tip of an iceberg of need,” said Claire. “Palliative care is complex, and we are continuing to face increasingly multifaceted cases involving cancers, heart conditions and many other diseases such as Motor Neurone Disease and Huntington’s Disease. And of course we’re not just dealing with the medical and nursing aspects of inpatient and outpatient care: palliative care also involves social work, various forms of counselling, therapy provision and other disciplines.”
Claire, a champion of end-of-life equality, continued: “People most often don’t want to die in hospital: they want to be home in their own environment with their family by their side, with the support of a range of services. Here at the hospice, I am committed to further developing our services in the medium term to support patients at home. Unfortunately, as the situation stands right now, a high percentage of those patients who really need specialist palliative care will not get to see a specialist care team either in a hospital setting or elsewhere. There are a number of ways in which we can start to address that shortfall and that’s by striving to offer a wider choice of support to more people in the community. That, in my view, is how we can build our value and become a truly sustainable service; that is what I am committed to achieving as I settle into my second year with the hospice.”
Building more effective and sustainable partnerships with GPs, hospitals and others are among Claire’s priorities. Other proposed initiatives, each designed to enhance the value we add to our local communities, include the reintroduction of a respite care facility at the hospice, developing the ‘hospice at home’ concept, and being more tailored in our response to those affected by any type of life-limiting illness. “It’s all about being more flexible and responsive to the needs and expectations of the individuals and families we will serve in the future,” said Claire. “That will hopefully also include the possibility for self-referral.”
Claire acknowledges that additional funding will need to be found to help make these aspirations a reality. “Funding will always be a factor, but these service developments will bring so much comfort, reassurance and practical benefits to so many people over the years and I am optimistic that they offer a compelling case for funding from various sources.”