About

No, St Richard’s care for patients with a range of serious progressive illnesses including neurological, respiratory, cardiac and renal conditions.

Hospices provide care for people from the point at which their illness is no longer expected to be cured, until the end of their life, however long that may be. That does not mean hospice care needs to be continuous. People sometimes like to take a break from hospice care if their condition has become stable and they are feeling well. Some people think that you only have hospice care when you are dying, but this is not true. Some families are frightened when they hear their loved one has been referred to a hospice, but afterwards may wish it had happened sooner. Research has shown that hospice care can increase both the quality of life and how long a patient lives.

Hospice care is often appropriate sooner rather than later. Early referral allows for anticipation and better management of symptoms and potential problems. It also allows for emotional and psychological support for the family. It generally results in improved quality of life for a longer time for both patient and loved ones. The clinical team involved in your care will be able to advise whether you, family members and carers would benefit from referrals to the different support services that St Richard’s provides.

St Richard’s Hospice provides support to the family members and carers in a number of different ways, to enable them to continue and be sustained in their caring roles.

Examples include a sitting service from our hospice at home team or trained community volunteers to enable a person’s carer to go out for a few hours to take a well-earned break or for some essential needs outside the home.

Our Living Well Services can also provide a break for carers while their loved ones are spending the day at the hospice. Our Living Well courses and social and information sessions help people to learn new skills and strategies through education, exercise, therapies, creativity, relaxation and group support.

St Richard’s In-patient Unit does not provide admissions for respite care alone, as the hospice inpatient beds are used for specialist symptom control and patient assessment, and where it is their preference, for care in our patients’ last days.

We care for patients in the South Worcestershire areas of Worcester, Droitwich, Pershore, Evesham, Malvern, Tewkesbury, Broadway, Martley and surrounding areas. We also offer in-patient care for patients from the Wyre Forest, Kidderminster, Redditch and Bromsgrove area.

Yes, it is important that loved ones around the patient feel supported and reassured. Our Family Support Team offers a wide range of support depending on the individual’s needs and preferences. Support includes bereavement counsellors, social work, group and telephone support and citizen’s advice.

No, our Nurse Specialists who care for people in the community are employed by St Richard’s Hospice. We do not receive any funding from Macmillan Cancer Support. However the job they do is identical.

Patients who would like support from St Richard’s can be referred by their GP, consultant, district nurse or other health care professional. Patients, or a person close to them, can also speak to our Gateway referral team themselves for information or advice.

If you would like more information about referrals, please contact the Gateway Team on 01905 763963. Healthcare professionals please click here for more information and a current referral form.

No, St Richard’s is not a member of any religious organisation. We welcome and care for patients from all religious backgrounds and no religious background. Our chaplaincy team leads on spiritual care and is multi denominational supporting people of all faiths and philosophies.

St Richard’s Hospice was founded in Droitwich, taking its name from Richard de la Wyche who was born there in 1197 and who was declared a Saint in 1262.

The snowdrop was chosen as the emblem for St Richard’s Hospice because it is known as the emblem of hope – the first flower to appear after winter, a sign of spring.

We depend on volunteers in almost all of our work to fulfil our goal of providing free care to patients and their families. Over 900 active volunteers bring their life skills and experience and carry out a wide range of roles within the hospice and community. Roles include patient care, administration, fundraising and helping in our shops.

No charge is made to patients and their loved ones for any of our services. This is made possible by the generosity of our supporters and community contributing to three quarters of our income, allowing us to provide our services to all those that require it, free of charge.

If you have private medical insurance St Richard’s may be able to recover some of the costs of your care. Please contact your insurance provider accordingly or for further discussion contact Tricia Cavell, Fundraising Director on 01905 763963 or

St Richard’s is an independent registered charity.  The majority of income is from public donations; this includes gifts in Wills, one-off or regular donations, fundraising events and personal challenges, trading, legacies and grants from trusts and business sponsorship. Approximately a quarter of income is funded from the NHS.

As with all other health care organisations, the work of St Richard’s Hospice is subject to inspection and regulation. All staff and volunteers are governed by strict confidentiality policy and abide by professional practice guidelines.

St Richard’s Hospice is inspected and regulated by the Care Quality Commission.

If you have any reason to comment upon any of the services provided by our organisation please don’t hesitate to contact:

Debbie Westwood, Care Director.

St Richard’s Hospice, Wildwood Drive, Worcester WR5 2QT

Tel: 01905 763963. Email:

In to protect our staff at work in the community, they now carry devices that can monitor and record conversations. They can summon support services and the recordings can be used in court proceedings.

In the context of the Savile Recommendations St Richard’s recognises the need to ensure there is no risk to the safety and security of patients and staff arising from visits by celebrities, VIPs and other official visitors.

The organiser will be responsible for ensuring the visitor is accompanied at all times when they are in contact with patients/families/staff/the general public. All St Richard’s Policies and Procedures, including our Safeguarding Policy apply to everyone visiting the hospice to ensure a safe environment.

St Richard’s Hospice is fully committed to safeguarding the welfare of all those we care for and support. We recognise our responsibility to promote safe practice and to work to protect all from harm.

We work together to encourage a culture which embraces diversity and respects the rights of children, young people and adults.  We support the right of all to be free from abuse and to be treated with respect and dignity.

All safeguarding issues are managed by adhering to  The Care Act 2014, The Children Act 1989 and 2004.

We will ensure that –

The welfare of those we care for will always be paramount.
The rights, wishes and feelings of all those we care for and those important to them will be respected and listened to.
In keeping those we care for safe from harm we will work with the multi-disciplinary team both within the organisation and external to it sharing information and working within the parameters of the Mental Capacity Act.
All staff and volunteers, whatever their role will work in accordance with the interests of all those we care for and support and will follow the policy and procedures laid down by the organisation.

Our Safeguarding policies and procedures ensure that robust systems are in place and set out the framework within which all staff and volunteers of the organisation are required to work to keep children, young people and adults safe. They are therefore able to respond appropriately to any safeguarding concerns.

Within the organisation we have the following in place and are therefore able to demonstrate the robust framework within which we work –

Clear Safeguarding policies and procedures
Two named Safeguarding Leads for the organisation
Departmental safeguarding advocates
Links with external safeguarding teams
Mandatory safeguarding training
External safeguarding training
Safeguarding supervision

The Hospice Safeguarding Leads are Sarah Popplestone-Helm, Head of Family Support and Rebecka Sparks, Specialist Palliative Care Social Worker.

Tel: 01905 763963