The History of St Ann's Hospice

"You matter because you are you and you matter until the last moment of your life. We will do all we can, not only to help you die peacefully but to live until you die."
Dame Cicely Saunders, founder of the UK hospice movement

The Hospice Movement

The hospice movement is one of the UK's great success stories. From just one voluntary hospice established in 1967, the hospice movement has made rapid medical and social advances over the past 40 years, both within the UK and around the world, changing the way people are treated when faced with a life-threatening illness.

Palliative care is for people whose illness is no longer curable. It enables them to achieve the best possible quality of life during a terminal illness, while providing support to their families.

A trained nurse, doctor and social worker, Dame Cicely Saunders identified the need for a place to care for the terminally ill through a friendship she struck up with a patient under her care. This patient spent the last two months of his life on a busy surgical ward because there was nowhere else he could go. Dame Cicely pioneered and oversaw the opening of St Christopher's Hospice in London in 1967 as a medical, teaching and research facility dedicated to the physical, emotional and spiritual care of the dying.

The need for a hospice for Manchester was recognised around this time. The Christie Hospital made an informal approach to the Bishop of Manchester, the Right Reverend Dr William Greer in 1967, asking if the local churches would join to set up a hospice.

Raising the Funds

An appeal for £250,000 was launched and Manchester's community took the cause to heart. Fundraising events included the first public tour of the Coronation Street set (pictured right). Granada TV charged people 10p each to walk the famous cobbled street, raising £3,000.

On 17 May 1971, St Ann's Hospice in Heald Green received its first patients. The Hospice was officially opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in June 1971.

It soon became clear that there was a need for further expansion and in 1975 planning began for a second hospice in the City of Salford, providing care across North Manchester. By 1979, the appeal reached its target of £600,000. The first patients were welcomed at the Little Hulton site on 9 April 1979 and Her Royal Highness Princess Anne officially opened the Hospice a month later.

St Ann’s Hospice took on board the running of the Neil Cliffe Cancer Care Centre in 1998. The centre was established by local businessman Neil Cliffe who found he had nowhere to get support when he had cancer. The centre’s primary function is that of support and rehabilitation through an integrated holistic service. The Neil Cliffe Cancer Care Centre, Heald Green and Little Hulton sites provide care from diagnosis through active treatment until death, covering the whole spectrum of support for people living with a life-threatening illness.

Developments

One of the important developments at St Ann’s Hospice since the mid-1980s has been Day Therapy. Day Therapy comprises Supportive Outpatients, Medical Outpatients and Day Care. The service is provided as a means of rehabilitation to maximise the potential of the individual patient in the most appropriate way whilst giving them access to the support that they need. A range of services may be accessed in Day Therapy, for example, complementary therapies, counselling and Lymphoedema clinics.

Hospices were the first institutions to place greater emphasis on community care, so home care was a natural development. In a national survey in 2003, 56% of those questioned said that they would prefer to die at home, so home respite teams aim to ensure that patients have that choice.

It is not only the patient that needs support. St Ann’s Hospice also recognises the vital role of carers and the importance of their well-being. As a result of this, support for carers, families and friends of patients is also extended to bereavement support and counselling.