Anne Mills, CEO Blog, July 2018

Looking back and moving forward

On the 20th June, we held Hospice Isle of Man’s 35th AGM, what an incredible achievement.

We were joined at our meeting by some of our longest-serving staff, board members and supporters, those who have been with us since day one, as well as many of those who are much newer to the organisation. We are really very lucky to have such a varying spread of experience, skill sets and knowledge amongst our membership and I am keen to work with everyone to make the best use of their skills as we go forward.

It can often be difficult taking forward significant changes, whilst respecting the past, however the unanimous votes and positive responses to our presentations were really encouraging to both me and my team. In our 35th year we are going to be doing a lot of reflecting, engaging and thanking, yet we will also be launching several new projects, a new strategy and an updated website so we are totally focused on striking this extremely important balance.

Looking back at how we came to be, the whole hospice movement was born out of a desire to allow people choice and dignity in dying and this is still as important to us today as it was back then. 2017 was my first full year at the helm of this organisation and it fills me with great pride that our clinical governance statistics demonstrate our high quality and sensitive care. I am also overwhelmed by the number of compliments and positive comments we receive on a daily basis.

“Each member of staff was so caring and understanding. You helped us all through a very difficult time.”

Whilst delivering choice and dignity in dying is a core part of what we do, Hospice Isle of Man has also developed lots of other key services over the years. We are now seeing the impact of broader engagement across the community demonstrating how important it is for us to keep moving forward as an organisation. Our 2017 Annual Review demonstrates just how far reaching we now are., here are a few statistics to give you an idea, but I would highly recommend that you read the full document here.

• In 2017 we had 494 referrals
• In 2017 28% of our referrals were for non-cancer diseases
• We had 582 attendances at our Day Unit drop in days
• We provided 2,544 hours of Hospice at Home care
• We arranged 249 training events
• We provided 139 overnight respite stays in Rebecca House

This comment really sums up the evolution we have gone through over the years

“Don’t ever underestimate what a huge difference you make to people’s living and dying”

Yes, we will be there for you at the end of your life, but our goal is to support you to improve your wellbeing so that you really can live your life your way!