A former doctor who worked at a hospice for almost 40 years has set out the reasons it is vital to preserve the special care it provides.

Elaine Laycock of Northwood is encouraging anyone concerned to sign the petition in hopes of reaching the five-figure target.

The Save the Michael Sobell Hospice petition was started by campaigner Terry Dean when he discovered the charity’s inpatient service at Mount Vernon Hospital had been moved to the hospital’s cancer centre wards.

Northwood woman Elaine Laycock, who worked for the hospice for 38 years after joining three years after it opened in 1977, said: “The idea of a hospice is to create a home environment with hospice facilities. Places for families to meet; relatives to stay on site all day, and, if it is desirable, the night; a quiet room for prayers or to say goodbye. 

“You need a lot of space for a hospice which you cannot have on an active ward - it is not possible.

“It leaves me very sad that what we worked so many years for there appears to be no plans to reopen this unit. I am sad for the patients and relatives.”

Elaine - The in-patient unit has 'effectively been closed down'

Watford Observer:

Elaine worked there for 12 years before becoming a volunteer. She helped to start the charity’s sponsored walk initiative and to acquire the hospice aviary, which she paid for personally, and to install a fish tank.

She added: “The point has to be made that there is a difference between palliative care, which is control of symptoms, and full hospice care before, during, and after death, for patients and families. 

“Palliative care is of course carried out on patients receiving cancer treatment, but patients having non-malignant life-limiting diseases are not appropriate for cancer wards, nor can the true hospice environment be provided there.

“There is also a psychological effect on the cancer patient if the death rate is increased and they fear they too might die.”

Elaine still volunteers for the charity and claims there is a “general unhappiness” because the in-patient unit has “effectively been closed down”.

The charity published a statement on June 1 citing “major structural problems” had forced the “interim” move. 

But the Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – which owns Michael Sobell House – published a response on July 1 saying the reason for the move being structural problems was “incorrectly reported”; that a historic structural issue was “fully addressed” in 2017 and that the whole building was underpinned.

'I want to raise 10,000 voices in protest'

Watford Observer:

Elaine said: “If people knew the cost of refurbishing the building the volunteers would go out and find that money. But in the vacuum we are in at the minute, momentum is going to be lost.

“One wonders why the move has been done in such a hurry and why we have no plans for restarting an inpatient unit elsewhere.”

A petition to save the hospice currently stands at 8,495 signatures from people concerned for the hospice’s future.

Elaine said: “I think all we can do is encourage anybody concerned to sign the petition to reach the 10,000 mark and then we can take it to Westminster. 

“I want to raise 10,000 voices in protest and to see a re-establishment of inpatient care in Northwood.”

She added: “Let’s see the plan, the cost and timescale. Let’s go for it.”

On July 12, the Michael Sobell Hospice Charity Board of Trustees said it would hold “listening and engagement” events as part of a review and consultation process on a “future model of care and potential locations”.

A working group has also been set up to consider all options presented.
Rosalind Williams, chairman of the board of trustees, said: “This decision was made in the best interests of patients and their families, and the care that is needed. The relocation was because of current concerns about the inpatient unit environment whilst a permanent solution is sought.”