Why choose Phyllis Tuckwell?

Our philosophy is about living, not dying. We care for seriously ill people and their families both at the Hospice and out in our local community. Specialist Palliative Care is about more than controlling symptoms and pain, which hospitals and other health care services would be able to do. We offer support with all the other difficulties that a terminal illness can bring. We firmly believe in offering an integrated package of care that reflects both clinical requirement and patient choice. Patients are individually assessed and we offer a truly holistic approach to care, acknowledging and incorporating physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual needs. It might be easier to think of ‘palliative’ as the type of care required when ‘curative’ care is no longer an option.

Myth: Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice is just a building

This is not the case we offer varying levels of care. Whether its through one of our Hospice Care at Home Nurses going out in the Community, or a patient coming into our Day Hospice or In-Patient-Unit or even a patient attending an appointment at our Dove Centre with one of our Therapists for physiotherapy, a complementary treatment such as Indian head massage or ways to manage fatigue. We have the specialist staff to help make your journey more pain free.

Myth: We are funded by the NHS

We receive just 12% funding from the NHS, but yet all our patients are referred from NHS, this level of funding is well below the national average. We are an independent charity, dependent on our local community for 88% of our running costs. However, by being independent we do have greater autonomy to run the Hospice in the way that we feel suits our patients and our local community. Through continued Income from legacies, sales from our 13 shops, fundraising events, general donations and corporate support we are very grateful from the support we receive.

Myth – a referral to the Hospice is a one way ticket

This is not the case at all. For example well over a third of our patients who stay with us leave after their first visit in a much better state than when they came in. Much of our work is about supporting patients and families in their own home at whatever point in their journey they are at we continue that support to families and carers for as long as is necessary after the patient’s death.