A group of Essex hospices has been shortlisted for a top healthcare award for supporting people nearing the end of their lives to choose where they are cared for.
Farleigh Hospice, Havens Hospices and St Luke’s Hospice, working together as the Hospice Collaborative Partnership, have been recognised in the ‘Best Not-for-Profit Working in Partnership with the NHS’ category at the Health Service Journal (HSJ) Partnership Awards.
Now in its eighth year, the HSJ Partnership Awards acknowledge positive working relationships between the NHS and organisations like hospices and outstanding dedication to improving healthcare and effective collaboration.
The hospices have been shortlisted from hundreds of other organisations and projects for their Hospice Rapid Access Service with the NHS Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board.
The Hospice Rapid Access Service is a 24-hour hospice-inspired care pathway for adults across Mid and South Essex, providing care in a hospice, care home or the community. The initiative supports the NHS’s Long-Term Plan to improve personalised palliative and end-of-life care and reduce health inequalities. It also aims to ease demand on health and social care systems, promote choice and help patients to achieve their preferred place of care and death, improve quality of life, reduce anxiety for families, and reduce hospital admissions and stays.
In its first year, the Hospice Rapid Access Service cared for more than 1,100 patients, delivering 33,376 nights of care preventing hospital admission or intervention, equating to 91 hospital beds per day.
In the community, the teams delivered 216,954 hours of care for patients in their own homes easing pressure on NHS colleagues and facilities.
The service delivers rapid and appropriate care; achieving this on average in three days from the original referral to the Hospice Rapid Access Teams.
On behalf of the Hospice Collaborative Partnership, we are delighted to be shortlisted at the HSJ Partnership Awards 2025. It will be a huge boost for our dedicated and hard-working teams across all three hospices, focusing on providing personalised care for even more people towards the end of their lives
It’s well known within our sector that the HSJ awards programme is a high profile and hugely respected platform to showcase the work and achievements of the many healthcare professionals who enter, and we’re delighted to have been recognised on this prestigious shortlist for a 2025 HSJ Partnership Award. We hope our entry might also inspire other colleagues in the hospice sector to consider submitting their projects, too.
Steve Smith, CEO of Havens Hospices
Helping more patients achieve their preferred place of care and death improves the quality of life and reduces anxiety for families.
The work and commitment of the three hospices in mobilising this innovative service model for people who are rapidly deteriorating has been exceptional.
The Hospice Rapid Access service involves people in their care decisions and enables them to be cared for in their preferred place. This builds on our commitment to deliver more personalised and holistic care, and get end of life care right for the communities we serve.
Dr Matthew Sweeting, Executive Medical Director for NHS Mid and South Essex
The selected winners will be announced during the awards ceremony at Evolution London on 20th March 2025.
The complete list of nominees can be found on the HSJ Partnership Awards website.
Find out more about palliative and end of life care in mid and south Essex