About the Hospice
As a specialist palliative care hospice, we provide multidisciplinary support for patients, families and carers in the following areas:
- Up to 30 inpatient specialist palliative care beds
- Outpatient & Wellbeing services
- Community Support at Home Services
- Grief & Bereavement Support Services
- Consultant Led Medical Team
We are a registered charity providing care and treatment for those living with life-limiting illnesses. Whilst we receive funding from NHS Lanarkshire, this only partially covers our running costs.
Continued provision of these services is only made possible by the generosity and assistance of the people of Lanarkshire.
St Andrew’s Hospice became a limited registered charity (OSCR) (Charity No: SC010159) in April 2006, having previously been an unincorporated association, operating under the care of the Religious Sisters of Charity.
We offer care and support to patients and their families tailored to meet their individual needs. Our goal is to provide physical, psychological, social and spiritual care for our patients in a calm, peaceful and welcoming environment. We aim to ensure our patients live as actively as they can, for as long as they can and ensure they have the best quality of life possible. We care for patients with a range of needs including symptom management, rehabilitation as well as end of life care.
- St Andrew’s Hospice provides inpatient care to people 18 years of age and older
- We accept referrals from North Lanarkshire (with the exception of Cumbernauld & Kilsyth) and Clydesdale.
- We provide Outpatient and Wellbeing services to people with advanced, progressive life-limiting illnesses who have associated complex specialist palliative care needs
- We provide grief and bereavement support and counselling to families, carers and the wider community.
- Respecting the uniqueness of each person
- Providing care irrespective of a person’s class, race, gender, religion or culture
Compassion
- To work alongside people in their suffering
- Doing all that is necessary to alleviate a person’s physical, psychological and spiritual pain
Justice
- Acting with integrity
- Respecting the rights of all
- Demonstrating fairness when making decisions
Advocacy
- Supporting people to use services and systems to their best advantage
Quality
- Always seeking to improve standards of care
- Respond to the views of those who use our services
- A commitment to working together across professional boundaries for the patient’s benefit
- Use resources responsibly and efficiently
- Always strive to get it right first time
The Religious Sisters of Charity came to Lanarkshire in February 1957, at the request of Bishop Scanlan of Motherwell. Four of the Sisters established a nursing home for the frail elderly and terminally ill at Assumption House in Airdrie. Their Mission was to provide much needed care for those of any faith and those of no faith at all. Those Sisters brought with them the founding traditions of the pioneering Religious Sisters of Charity, who had already established Hospices in Harold’s Cross Dublin, which was founded in 1879, St Joseph’s Hospice London which was founded in 1905 and St Margaret of Scotland Hospice Clydebank , which was founded in 1950.
Those hospices form an integral part of the International Healthcare Facilities of the Religious Sisters of Charity and St Andrew’s Hospice sits proudly alongside.
By June of 1957 the nursing home at Assumption House was ready to admit its first patients. The Sisters initially depended on the Congregation for their funding and they worked tirelessly with the local community and the St Vincent de Paul Society to secure their finances while funding negotiations commenced with the Western Regional Health Board.
During 1958 the Western Regional Health Board had agreed to finance 13 beds, and by 1965 an extension had been built which created space for a further 10 beds. Lanarkshire Health Board undertook the partial funding of 8 of these beds, creating a total of 21 beds.
Towards the end of the 1970’s, the Sisters recognised their beds were occupied by long-term elderly patients, to almost the complete exclusion of terminally ill patients. The Sisters became increasingly concerned that their care activities were becoming remote from their founding Mission to care for the sick-poor and dying.
The universal experience of the Sisters had recognised years before, that provision of high quality end of life care requires enhanced staffing ratios and the provision of the highest quality services and facilities. So, in late 1979 a meeting was held between members of the Lanarkshire Health Board and the Sisters of Charity to discuss the improvement of existing facilities at the nursing home and to add an extension for the terminally ill. However, Assumption House was subsiding, the roof needed constant repair, and it was suggested a more up to date building was required on an alternative site. After consultation with the planning department, the former St. Margaret’s School site in Airdrie appeared to be suitable for development. A further meeting between the Lanarkshire Health Board and the Sisters of Charity was held at Assumption House on 31 August 1982. At this meeting it was stated that no assistance could be given with the capital costs of a new building, but the recurring funding of 21 geriatric beds would continue, providing that costs were fixed.
A detailed costing for 10 end of life care beds was submitted to the Lanarkshire Health Board and while the Health Board saw the need for the provision of a terminally ill care unit in the area, no financial commitment was made. The Sisters of Charity were faced with the ultimate dilemma which, simply put, was the risk of going ahead without any funding being available or not going ahead at all. The Sisters in Dublin made another significant contribution and in partnership with the local community, businesses and volunteers, a leap of faith was taken to build a new Hospice. The Henderson Street site was secured. The Council saw the project as a very necessary service to the local community and surrounding areas and immediately accepted the plans submitted for the building of the Hospice.
Planning began for a 10 bed unit for the care of the terminally ill and a 20 bed unit for the care of the frail elderly and chronic sick with a completion date of March 1986.
The vision of the Sisters for St Andrew’s was that it should be a centre of nursing excellence, providing inpatient and outpatient care within the community, as well as education to enable the development of end of life care in its wider sense. Their vision was uncompromising and completely determined.
By June 1983 an Appeals Committee had been formed to raise funds for the capital cost of the new building, estimated at £1.2 million. The committee members were drawn from a range of backgrounds. They were of differing religions, class, age and profession. All came forward and worked with great dedication and commitment to raise this sum.
The whole community embraced the cause of St. Andrew’s, both locally and throughout Lanarkshire. The new building was finally occupied on 26 April 1986 and the name and address changed to St Andrew’s Hospice.
Over the next 20 years St Andrew’s Hospice continued to flourish and by the turn of the millennium, it had begun to outgrow its original accommodation. Therefore in 2006 a 3 floor extension was built adjacent to the original building, housing education, fundraising, finance, I.T. etc. In addition, 6 family rooms were constructed on the perimeter of the inpatient unit to provide accommodation for relatives to stay overnight.
From 1986 the number of frail elderly beds had gradually reduced to be replaced by Specialist Palliative Care beds. In 2008 the final Care of the Elderly beds were closed allowing the total number of Specialist Palliative Care beds to increase to 30.
In April 2018, we received the keys to our newly reconfigured and refurbished Hospice.
The reconfigured Hospice has 21 single rooms with en-suite facilities and 3 multi-occupancy rooms, also with en-suite wet rooms. The new facilities include many features to ensure patients continue to receive quality, person-centred care at the end of life. These include over-bed hoists, integrated oxygen, access to the beautiful courtyard garden as well as practical features to aid care. Fresh, modern design and décor with flexible heating and better lighting are key aspects of the room design. All of the public spaces have also been upgraded and fitted out with new fixtures and fittings which will add to the comfort of our patients, their families and visitors to the Hospice.
St Andrew’s Hospice is governed by a Board of Trustees, membership of which is drawn from the Lanarkshire community. Members of the Board are elected, non-executive Directors and Trustees of the hospice and have equal responsibility in law for the actions and decisions of the Board.
The Senior Management Team consists of a Chief Executive, Deputy Chief Executive: Head of Clinical Services, Head of Finance, Facilities Manager, Head of People, Head of Fundraising, Director of Mission and a Lead Consultant. This team is charged with responsibility for the day-to-day operational management hospice as well as developing and reviewing the strategic direction of the Hospice.
Each department within the Hospice is managed by a designated manager on a highly devolved basis, with teams being given as much responsibility as is possible within the confines of their training and experience.
St Andrew’s Hospice has an internal framework through which, as a voluntary sector provider of Hospice and Specialist Palliative Care, we can demonstrate accountability for and ensure continuous improvement in the quality of our services for patients and their families. Our Quality Governance Framework aims to safeguard high standards of care and creating an environment in which excellence of care will flourish.
At St Andrew’s Hospice, we strive to provide the best possible care for all our patients, their loved ones and carers. This means we’re always looking for ways we can improve any of the services we offer.
If you have any suggestions about how we might improve treatments or if you are not satisfied with any aspect of our service, we would like to hear from you. We see comments and complaints as an opportunity to improve what we do and help us reach the high standards we set ourselves and that our service users expect.
Please contact us to share your comments or to send us an enquiry.
Our Complaints Procedure can be viewed here.