Member Article

Walter Thompson helps transform Darlington hospice

WORK to extend a Darlington hospice has been completed.

A £1.1m purpose-built in-patient unit at St Teresa’s Hospice on Woodland Road has been delivered by well-respected construction company Walter Thompson Ltd.

While construction of the unit has been completed, and a hand-over has taken place, the unit won’t be open for patients until later this year, as fundraising to equip and furnish each room is ongoing.

Construction started last year and the company worked hard hard to keep disruption for the hospice’s patients and neighbours to a minimum.

The old hospice in-patient unit had only six beds and was one of the smallest in the UK. It was frequently full and beds were unavailable to people in need. Meanwhile, access by stretcher lift was only available to three of six beds and the older building had limits in terms of infection control and easy supervision.

The new ground-floor, custom-built unit has addressed these issues by increasing the number of in-patient beds from six to ten fully-equipped en-suite rooms, which look out on to the hospice’s gardens. The unit will have greatly improved accessibility and comfort for patients, and improved facilities for visitors.

Ian Saye, Site Manager for Walter Thompson, said: “I hope the St Teresa’s team are happy with the job we’ve done - we’ve worked particularly closely with them and I’d like to thank them for their help and patience – and their friendly approach.

“Some of the lads working on the unit are from Darlington, so were well aware of the hospice and the inspirational work they do here. We wish them well with their continuing fundraising,” he added.

Jane Bradshaw, Chief Executive of the hospice, said: “We were delighted to work with a highly accomplished, family-run business such as Walter Thompson’s on this project and they have done their utmost to keep noise and disruption to a minimum. The site has been outstandingly clean and fuss free, and all of the personnel have been respectful of and interested in what we do here.

“The new ten-bedded in-patient unit will benefit so many people in South Durham and North Yorkshire and we are all looking forward to it opening later this year. Fundraising is, of course, more important than ever and there are many opportunities for individuals or groups to support this project through donations towards equipment, fixtures and fitting, which I would be pleased to discuss with anyone at any time.”

St Teresa’s Hospice is an independent charity working across South Durham and North Yorkshire. It provides a range of services including day hospice; in-patient care; hospice at home and family support and bereavement services.

For more information, go to http://www.darlingtonhospice.org.uk

For more information on Walter Thompson, go to http://www.walterthompson.co.uk

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Walter Thompson .