marie curie people july 2013

People

Delivering Choice methodology

Marie Curie’s Royal Patron His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales met

patient Margaret Atkinson and her grandson Daniel when he opened the

new Marie Curie Hospice for the West Midlands. SEE PAGES 10-11

ROYAL VISITOR FOR NEW HOSPICE

A programme to redesign and improve care for patients and families with palliative and end-of-life care needs across Northern Ireland is under way.

The two-year programme – entitled

Transforming Your Palliative and End of Life

Care – is part of Transforming Your Care, a

major government initiative to reform health

and social care across Northern Ireland.

The programme will use the Delivering

Choice methodology developed by Marie

Curie and used successfully in 18 large-scale

projects across the UK. It will be the biggest

project of its kind to date.

Marie Curie is working in partnership

with the Health and Social Care Board and

other organisations, including independent

hospices, charities and commercial

organisations, across the fi ve Health and

Social Care Trusts in Northern Ireland.

The programme will also involve GPs, local

commissioners, allied health professionals

and others involved in care for patients

and families.

Marie Curie’s Head of Policy and Public

Affairs for Northern Ireland, Joan McEwan,

said: “We are delighted to have this

New two-year programme will redesign services for patients and families across Northern Ireland

TV stars join supporters for national brew-upPAGE 5

Colourful events celebrate the work of volunteersPAGE 7

How our Cardiff and the Vale hospice team offers supportPAGE 13

A BAKE FROM THE OLD ROUTINE

FLOWER POWER CELEBRATIONS

DYNAMIC DAY THERAPY

PARTNERSHIP SET TO TRANSFORM CARE

Marie Curie

Marie Curie Cancer Care’s

newspaper for staff

and volunteers

JULY 2013

groups. Together, we are looking at what is

the best solution for patients at the end of

their lives for each trust.

“We also anticipate the programme will

help to address future pressures on healthcare

from increasing life expectancy, which means

that more people will be living longer and

with multiple conditions.

“The aim is to improve end of life care

for patients and carers and give more people

the option to be cared for in the place of

their choice, which we know is home rather

than hospital.”

The Delivering Choice methodology which

will be used for Transforming Your Palliative

and End of Life Care project was developed

by Marie Curie in 2004 and has been used

for 18 projects in diff erent parts of the UK.

It introduces a whole-systems approach

to end-of-life care provision.

opportunity to help shape the future of end

of life care in Northern Ireland, and lead in

its design. This will be the fi rst time that this

methodology will be rolled out across a

whole region – one with such a varied

geographical footprint.

“It is all about ensuring that care is

totally patient-centred. The evidence from

our Delivering Choice projects in Somerset

and other areas shows that when you have

effective care in place, patients are much

less likely to die in hospital.”

ANALYSISThere will be three main stages to


Care. Initially, the project team will analyse

the current position, looking at current

services and their strengths, and where there

are gaps. They will analyse data and talk to

patients and health professionals.

The second stage will involve the

redesign of current services or the design

of new services.

The third stage will implement the

redesigned and new services. There will

also be an evaluation to identify successes

and learnings.

“The fi rst two stages will take

approximately nine months. We hope to

be caring for our fi rst patients under the


Care programme by summer 2014,” Joan said.

“Transforming Your Palliative and End of

Life Care is getting service providers – like

ourselves and the independent hospices –

sitting around the table with key stakeholders,

such as commissioners, GPs, other healthcare

professionals and patient and service user

Services that have been set up and run

successfully under Marie Curie Delivering

Choice projects include rapid response

nursing teams which can be called out

of hours, fast-track discharge nurses,

redesigned hospice day services, support

for care home staff and the Marie Curie

Helper Service.

Marie Curie and the Northern Ireland

Health and Social Care Board recently hosted

a joint Chief Executives’ summit with leading

Board and Trust stakeholders involved in

palliative care to launch the programme.

TVsunPA

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HatP

DT

2 People July 2013

News

5THINGS YOU CAN DO THIS MONTH

1. WIN A MOUNTAIN OF VOUCHERS This year, why not take on a mountain and hiking

challenge in aid of Marie Curie? Whether you conquer

Ben Nevis or trek across the moors of Dartmoor, it’s

the perfect opportunity to get away from it all and

enjoy the great outdoors. If you sign up to a challenge

before 31 July you’ll be entered into a prize draw to be

in with a chance of winning £500 worth of vouchers

courtesy of holidaycottages.co.uk. To read the terms

and conditions or fi nd your mountain challenge, head

to mariecurie.org.uk/mountain

2. GET MORE KIDS TO GROW DAFFODILS Do you, your relatives or friends have children aged

3–11? Then ask their teachers to sign up for Mini

Pots of Care, Marie Curie’s fl orid fundraising activity.

This autumn, all the budding gardeners involved

will get a free kit of daffodils to plant and care for,

while learning about science and nature. And next

spring, they’ll celebrate their blooms by painting

fl ower pots and holding fundraisers for us. This year,

we’re aiming to sign up 3,000 schools, nurseries

and groups – and we need your help. So please tell

everyone to register by calling 0845 052 4184,

emailing [email protected] or visiting

mariecurie.org.uk/minipotsofcare

3. FILL UP YOUR SHOPPING TROLLEY Christmas might seem a long way off, but it’ll be here

before you can say “Hark the herald angels sing”.

That’s why you might want to start thinking about

shopping for all those presents. And what better

place to start than with the Marie Curie Christmas

catalogue, as 100% of profi ts help the charity? Head

to mariecurie.org.uk/shop now to browse our online

shop and stock up on Christmas cards, gifts and more.

4. HELP SOMEBODY SHARE THEIR STORY Have you heard that we have a Share your story form

on our main website? By fi lling this in, people with a

connection to Marie Curie can tell us all about their

experiences. Whether their loved one was cared for

by our nurses or they’ve supported us in some way,

their story could help to raise awareness of our work.

But fi rst we need you to help spread the word.

So please, include the link to our form –

mariecurie.org.uk/mystory – in your emails this month.

5. STEP OUT FOR MARIE CURIE Walk Ten, our 10k twilight walk, kicks off this

month. This is your chance to gain exclusive access

to some of the UK’s most stunning locations, enjoy

live entertainment as the sun goes down, share an

unforgettable summer’s evening with your friends

and family and raise money for people with terminal

illnesses. So take your fi rst step now and sign up at

mariecurie.org.uk/walkten. Or call 0845 052 4184

for more information.

Editor: Nick Moulton

Writers: Clair Whitefi eld, Lara

Jennings, Rob Jones, Angela Burton

Designers: Artful Dog Publishing

and Marie Curie Creative Services

Repro by: Selsey Press

Printed by: Mortons

Managed & distributed by:

CDL

Circulation: 6,500

Send stories to Editor Nick Moulton, Creative Services, Marie Curie Cancer Care,

89 Albert Embankment, London, SE1 7TP. Email [email protected]

or phone me on 020 7599 7706 and I’ll draft a story from your call.

PeopleMarie Curie

Marie Curie People is the charity’s

offi cial newspaper for staff and

volunteers. It is published monthly.

MEDICAL ADVISER GIVEN OBE HONOURMarie Curie’s Medical Adviser, Dr Teresa Tate, has been awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to Marie Curie and to palliative care.

Teresa was delighted to receive the

award. “I think it’s great that there is a

recognition of palliative care in this way,”

she said. “This is a refl ection of the work

of clinical colleagues within the charity

and further afi eld.”

Teresa retires this month, after just over

13 years with Marie Curie. She has been

Medical Adviser throughout a period of

rapid change and development, when the

charity has grown in size, and developed

into a high profi le organisation leading

end-of-life care in the UK.

Until recently, Teresa was – among

many other appointments – Deputy

National Clinical Director for End-of-Life

Care in England.

“It’s been very exciting to be part of

the development of Marie Curie and to

have contributed to what the charity is

doing to lead in palliative care and end

of life care,” she said. “We have achieved

so much by engaging with the public, the

NHS and the wider world.”

Also awarded the OBE was Jo Hockley,

now a Nurse Consultant at St Christopher’s

Hospice, who fi rst persuaded Teresa to

move from radiotherapy to the new

discipline of palliative medicine in 1988.

“It’s been a really exciting fi eld to be

involved in over the years, because the

MARIE CURIE PEOPLE NEEDS YOUR NEWS.

Major Windows upgrade off ers speed and security benefi tsAll Marie Curie Cancer Care’s 1,800 desktop and laptop computers are set to be upgraded to Microsoft Windows 7 and Offi ce 2010.

The major upgrade, which will begin

next month, will mean all computers

will be on a new operating system

and Offi ce application by the end of

February 2014.

Project Manager for IT Operations

Janette Hellyer said: “We need to do this

as Microsoft is withdrawing support in

2014 for our current systems, Windows

XP and Offi ce 2003. This would leave

the charity’s computers exposed to

viruses and security issues, and it would

be impossible for our IT service partner to

support the computer users.

“The new system has various additional

benefi ts: it is built with better security

options, faster at executing certain tasks;

it’s compatible with a greater range

of business applications; and we will

have less compatibility issues when

sending or receiving Offi ce documents

with organisations that have already

transitioned to Windows 7 and Offi ce 2010.”

The IT team is currently testing how

compatible Windows 7 is with the

charity’s present business applications.

Once this has been successfully completed

and piloted, the upgrade will roll out

across Marie Curie, starting with devices

at Albert Embankment and moving on to

computers at Pontypool, Links Place, the

Marie Curie Hospices, Swindon and then

fundraising and nursing offi ces.

speciality of palliative medicine was only

recognised in 1987. I’ve been lucky to be

in the right place at the right time,”

Teresa said.

Also honoured in the Queen’s Birthday

Honours were Legacy Advisor Judy Glossop,

Marie Curie Nurse Iris Honor Wright and

former Matron of the Marie Curie Hospice,

Solihull Sally Derry, all of whom were

awarded the British Empire Medal.

Judy, who joined Marie Curie Cancer

Care 19 years ago in September, was

honoured for services to people with

RECOGNITION:

Dr Teresa Tate said

her OBE refl ects the

work of her clinical

colleagues

Courtesy of Dell Inc.

cancer. She said: “What a surprise! I could

not believe it. Of course, it’s not just for

me, it’s for everyone who has supported

us – a lot of our volunteers have been

here longer than I have.

“My daughter, Sally, who died aged

eight, has been my inspiration, and has

given me strength.”

Former Matron Sally Derry spent the

last 22 years volunteering for Solihull

Bereavement Counselling Service. She

described her volunteering as “an

absolute privilege”.

3July 2013 People

Dazzling blue skies and chilly water greeted swimmers at this year’s national Marie Curie Skinny Dip.

The four simultaneous events in Wales,

Essex, East Lothian and Dorset saw 400

naked swimmers braving icy waves to

raise more than £50,000 for the charity.

Isobel Paul, Regional Events Manager,

Scotland, said: “We couldn’t have had

better weather. The sunshine across

the beach so early in the morning was

absolutely glorious and the smiling faces

of our amazing fundraisers added to the

SUPPORTERS GRIN AND BARE ITwonderful scenery to make the morning a

very memorable event for all involved.”

Claire Notman, Regional Events

Fundraiser, Wales and the West, who

watched as 91 fundraisers waded into

Oxwich bay on the Gower Peninsula,

said: “The weather was amazing and the

atmosphere was even better – everyone

just got into the spirit of things and had

a fantastic time. When I said how much

we’d raised, there were gasps from the

dippers. It really was such a wonderful,

worthwhile event.”

David Murdoch, one of the dippers at

Yellowcraigs beach in East Lothian, said:

“It was great fun. I signed up for the dip

spurred on by the fact that a friend of

mine who had gone into remission had

relapsed. She is fortunate to have friends

that can look after her, but so many

people don’t have this support, which is

where Marie Curie steps in.”

Regional Events Manager Jon Duckham,

who helped organise the dip at Studland

Beach in Dorset, said: “It was a perfect

morning and a wonderful atmosphere for

those taking part to enjoy a naked run

into the sea. What was also fantastic

was the incredible amount raised, which

exceeded our expectations.”

The national sponsored skinny dip

event was the winning proposal in

Marie Curie’s Big Idea competition for

innovative fundraising ideas in 2012.

Community Fundraiser (Wales and West)

Natalie Taylor suggested developing the

event as a national promotion, based

on supporter Alison Powell’s successful

event in South Wales.

Marie CurieSkinny Dip 2013

4 People July 2013

NEW STRATEGY TO BOOST DIVERSITY AND INCLUSIONEverything in our

hospice gardens is rosy

Dr Adrian Tookman named as new Clinical Director

Marie Curie at Commissioning Show

Policy

In June, I was in Belfast and Liverpool, enjoying meeting patients and their families – and even a dog called Hector – as well as staff , volunteers and supporters. In both cities, there was sunshine, so perhaps for that reason I looked even more closely at the beautiful hospice gardens. I met volunteer gardeners in Liverpool, some of whom were receiving long-service awards. What a fantastic job they do!

But it is not just me highlighting their value and

importance to us. Research has shown that the natural

environment improves our sense of wellbeing. This

applies whether we are patients, families, staff or

volunteers. The sight of greenery has been shown

to prompt a relaxation response in our brains and

spending time in the garden can reduce tension, blood

pressure and help us manage stress. So our gardens at

Marie Curie are important for all of us.

We have also commissioned research ourselves and

found that nearly 90% of people at the end of their

lives feel access to a garden or green open space is

essential, with over half of them saying gardens hold

some of their happiest memories. So well done and

thank you to all our volunteer gardeners. You are

doing a really important job.

This is also one of the reasons we are so delighted

to be one of the charities that benefi ts from the

money raised by the National Garden Scheme (NGS).

Over the past 16 years, it has donated over £6million

to us – think how many patients have benefi ted. The

scheme consists of people with gardens, large and

small, opening them to the public for a small entry

fee, with the money raised going to a number of

charities, including Marie Curie.

During the NGS Festival Weekend I went down to

Oxfordshire to a garden and met not only the owners,

who have been fantastic supporters of ours, but also

one of our nurses and Anneka Rice – who, of course,

arrived by helicopter. NGS wanted to use Anneka to

publicise what they are doing, giving people so much

pleasure but also highlighting how charities benefi t

from the funding.

It was tipping down with rain on the way there

and when I arrived, but, as the helicopter came in,

the clouds blew away and we could all enjoy the

garden. Thousands of gardens are open in England

and Wales throughout the summer. There is a similar

organisation in Scotland, but I don’t know if there

is one in Northern Ireland. So if you get the chance

please visit one of them both for your own wellbeing

and because you will be supporting our work.

• For more on the NGS see page 14.

Marie Curie Cancer Care is currently developing its strategy for 2014–2017 which will reaffi rm its commitment to being an inclusive and diverse organisation and employer.

The charity is developing a supporting

diversity and inclusion framework

and action plan that will illustrate how

it plans to deliver equality of access

and quality of care to all sections of

the community.

Dr Ian Gittens, Senior Project Manager

(Diversity), said: “We want to ensure that

all Marie Curie service users regardless of

their age, gender, gender identity, race,

religion or belief, marital status or sexual

orientation receive a quality service

in an environment that is free from

discrimination of any kind.

“A great responsibility is placed on

our staff and volunteers to ensure that

these expectations are met. We will be

Dr Adrian Tookman will be Marie Curie Cancer Care’s new Clinical Director from September.

Adrian (pictured), who has been

Medical Director at the Marie

Curie Hospice, Hampstead,

since 1985, will work

closely with the charity’s

new Medical Director, Bill

Noble, and Operations Director

Caroline Hamblett.

He said: “There is a wealth of

medical talent at Marie Curie and my

role will be to ensure this is used to best

effect, and bring the clinical leadership

and focus the charity needs. Dr David

Oxenham, the current Clinical Director,

has done a fantastic job and I want to

build on his successes.

“I see my role at Marie Curie

as encouraging the excellent

minds in our medical teams

to learn from each other

and share new palliative

care practices. My aim is to

encourage innovation and

ensure clinical engagement in

leadership. Our hospices should be

recognised as units that deliver the very

best care; this will ensure that Marie Curie

is seen as the national leader in specialist

palliative care.”

Marie Curie had a strong presence at the Commissioning Show – England’s largest national event aimed at NHS commissioners.

Over the two days, delegates attended

presentations by infl uential fi gures on

national and local issues, including one

by Dr Jane Collins on the importance

of joining up services around the patient.

Jane used Marie Curie’s Somerset

Delivering Choice Programme as an

example of an effective integrated end-of-

life care model that reduces unnecessary

hospital admissions and improves

patients’ experience of care at the end of

life. Other themes echoed in presentations

were the importance of evidence-led

services and patient empowerment.

The Health Service Journal, distributed

in delegate packs, contained a four-page

supplement on Marie Curie, featuring

articles about the charity’s involvement

in end of life care, case studies and best

practice examples from across the UK.

Catherine Salmon, Marketing Manager

in Caring Services and Research, said staff

at Marie Curie’s exhibition stand spoke

to a variety of delegates about the work

of the charity. “The show provided us

with an opportunity to engage healthcare

professionals in discussions about gaps

in end of life care services in their local

areas,” she said.

“It was encouraging to speak to

designated end of life care leads from

Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs,

formerly PCTs), which suggests that many

CCGs have gauged the importance of

good end of life care both for patients

and families.”

The show was attended by 6,000

delegates and 300 exhibitors.

monitoring service user profi les, feedback

and service outcomes to assess how

effectively we manage this commitment.”

Research suggests that black, Asian

and minority ethnic communities are

OUR TEAM: Marie Curie’s Rachel Poynor,

Jacqueline Jacobs, Paul Hariness and Dan Farag

at the show

GARDEN FESTIVAL: Dr Jane Collins with TV and radio

presenter Anneka Rice

not accessing end of life services in the

numbers that might be expected and is

hoped that the diversity and inclusion

framework will develop ways to raise

awareness of the charity and its services

among these communities.

The plan will also emphasise the

charity’s commitment to providing equal

opportunities for all employees.

Business Partner, HR Services Ceri

Evans said: “Our intention is that the

talents and skills available within the

community are valued and considered

and that our workforce is a refl ection of

the population we serve.

“We will ensure that all reasonable

steps are taken to ensure that our

career information is accessible and

that individuals are treated equally and

fairly and that decisions on recruitment,

selection, training and career development

are based on clear, objective criteria.”

CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S VIEW

Dr Jane Collins, Chief Executive

OUR TEAM: Marie Curie’s Rachel Poynor,

INCLUSION: Dr Ian Gittens wants to ensure a

quality service, free of discrimination

CV: Adrian Tookman● Medical Director, Marie Curie Hospice,

Hampstead, since 1985.

● Medical Director at The Royal Free

Hospital until 2012.

● Led three projects at The Royal Free,

addressing organisational culture

and implementing Schwartz Rounds;

improving infection control; and

delivering a public health programme

within an Acute Trust.

● Set up PallE8, an integrated palliative

care system, to ensure 4 million people

in North East and North Central London

receive equitable palliative care. Adrian

will continue to lead PallE8.

GARDEN FESTIVAL: Dr Jane Collins with TV and radio

5July 2013 People

TV star bakers help us serve up a Blooming Great Success

Hospices set for spring completion

Business continuity plan gets site up and running quickly after sudden power failureMains power was restored to the

National Support Centre late on the

Tuesday afternoon and the Pontypool site

was operational again by 6.30am on the

Wednesday morning.

Andy Hart, IT Manager, said: “Marie

Curie’s IT team sent engineers to the

site and also to the Disaster Recovery

site in Bristol to confi gure machines, set

up servers, fail-over emails and ensure

the Patient Connect software that

manages nurse rotas was not affected.

All systems were fully operational and

running from the Bristol site by 9am on

Saturday morning.”

The team continued to work through

the day to confi gure the services and,

once power returned to the Pontypool

POUR PERFORMANCE: (above, left to right) Jane McPartlin,

Sheonad Laidlaw, TV baker James Morton, Susan Helps, Janie

Pearson and Kelly Hughes; (below) celebrity cook Mary Berry

and Tracey North, Marie Curie Community Manager for Berkshire

ENHANCEMENT PROGRAMME: How the

conservatory at the Marie Curie Hospice,

Bradford will look after refurbishment

This year’s Blooming Great Tea Party is set to be even bigger and better than the last, with thousands of tea parties gracing the nation’s homes, gardens and offi ces – and even the Twittersphere.

The charity held its fi rst week-long

‘Care for a Cuppa?’ virtual tea party,

which involved invitations to its Twitter

followers between 11am and 3pm to join

us for a brew and tea-related fun and

games. Lots of supporters joined the fun,

sharing their tea party plans and entering

our daily competitions, which included

tweeting pictures of themselves posing

as teapots.

Not to be left out, queen of cakes

Mary Berry posed as a teapot when she

stopped by to visit Frogmore House in

Windsor, one of the NGS gardens

raising money for Marie Curie

Cancer Care. Great British Bake

Off runner-up James Morton

also visited the Marie Curie

Hospice Glasgow to show

his support.

Meanwhile, the Marie

Curie Fundraising Group in

Ledbury held a hugely successful

weekend for the charity, raising

£2,000. The event included fi ne wines

and canapés served on the Saturday

night, followed by a Blooming Great Tea

Party in Wellington Heath in the glorious

sunshine on Sunday.

And Suzy Pelta, winner of ITV1’s

Lorraine Show cake baking competition,

held a hugely successful Blooming

Great Tea Party at home. Offi cial

Blooming Great Tea Party blogger Suzy

hosted an event for 40 friends and family.

Treats on offer included Suzy’s Marie

Curie Lemon Custard Cream Cake and

her Lorraine Show competition-winning

When the Marie Curie Referral Centre in Pontypool was hit by a serious power failure early one morning, it was the speedy reaction of colleagues that ensured operations were running from a back-up site within a few hours.

When the power went down at 3.40am

on Saturday 8 June, following a massive

power outage at the local electrical

substation, the site was temporarily out

of action for only the second time in

over a decade.

A decision was made to activate the

charity’s Business Continuity Plan,

meaning Referral Centre operations and

staff were transferred to the charity’s

Disaster Recovery site in Bristol, ensuring

continuity of service.

The refurbishment programmes to enhance the Marie Curie Hospices in Bradford, Hampstead and Newcastle are set to start this autumn and be completed by March 2014.

The Marie Curie Hospice, Bradford works

are planned to improve the in-patient

rooms, ensuite facilities and family area.

Hospice Manager Elaine Hill said: “Our

aim is to continue to provide the best

possible service we can to patients while

the work is progressing. All the tools and

materials the contractors will be using, and

their working practices in general, have

been decided upon to minimise noise and

disruption to patients.”

The Bradford Hospice is 11 years old,

and these improvement works are key to

bringing the site up to date and enhancing

the environment.

“The hospice is starting to look a little

tired, so these redesigns will make a

massive difference,” Elaine said.

Improvement works to the Marie Curie

Hospice, Newcastle, and Marie Curie

Hospice, Hampstead, also start in the

autumn.

Estates Manager Paul Cross said: “We

will be working carefully to minimise

disruption to patients across all these

builds. The schedule is tight to complete

all the work we want to do but we are

confi dent we’ll achieve it, because we

have great teams in place.”

site, engineers worked throughout the

night to restore normal service.

Centre Manager, Pontypool Nicola

Davies said: “It was a shock getting a

telephone call at 3.40am on Saturday

morning informing me that the site

had lost power. However, it was

also a great opportunity to test our

Disaster Recovery Plan.

“The Nursing Support Centre

was due to be operational by

6.30am, which we were successful

in doing by activating our Business

Continuity plan.”

Staff rallied round and the Referral

Centre calls were handled via mobile

phones, supported by Referral Centre staff

until the Disaster Recovery site was ready

FOR MORE INFORMATIONIf you haven’t yet registered to hold your own Blooming Great Tea Party, what are you waiting for? Registration is open until Wednesday 31 July, so register now at mariecurie.org.uk/teaparty

4,909Number of people

who have signed up to hold a tea party*.

*At the time of going to print

94hrs 50minsTotal time the

Pontypool site was without power.

chocolate and banana cake.

She said: “I am completely

overwhelmed by the generosity

and kindness of everyone and I highly

recommend hosting a Blooming

Great Tea Party – you feel blooming

great afterwards.”

News

for the charity to occupy. Staff working

Saturday travelled to Bristol to carry

out their duties.

“The commitment and fl exibility of the

staff was tremendous and everyone pulled

together to ensure patient care was not

impacted over the four-day period,”

Nicola said.

“Myself and Sarah Seary

(Facilities and Services Manager)

worked through Sunday night to

ensure rotas were adapted to reduce

the impact on staff travelling to

Bristol on the Monday.

“Everyone was relieved to receive a

call late Tuesday afternoon informing

them that the Pontypool site would be

operational on Wednesday.”

6 People July 2013

People have considerably higher levels of trust in Marie Curie healthcare providers than they do in generic healthcare providers, according to new research undertaken by the charity.

The survey of six lots of 2,000 people

revealed the high regard the general

public has for the charity.

Senior Insight Manager Ann Davison,

said: “We already knew that people

have a great deal of respect for nurses,

but we had no data to show how people

felt towards healthcare assistants or

of how much trust the addition of the

prefi x ‘Marie Curie’ adds.

“This research shows that people

have an incredibly high opinion of all

nursing staff that work under the Marie

Curie label, and shows how strong and

trusted our service and brand are.”

In the survey by ComRes, respondents

ranked, on a scale of 1 (not trust them

at all) to 10 (trust them completely),

how much trust they would have in a

variety of healthcare professionals to

provide care if a loved one needed end

of life care at home. This included Marie

Curie nurses and healthcare assistants,

as well as generic nurses, healthcare

assistants, senior healthcare assistants

and nursing assistants.

Although specialist nursing support improves end of life care in care homes, factors such as stable care home management, palliative care champions and GP support are vital to ensure residents receive good quality, reliable palliative treatment.

These are the fi ndings from a study by

Research Facilitator Dr Anne Finucane,

Community Palliative Care Clinical

Nurse Specialists Barbara Stevenson

and Rhona Moyes, Medical Director

Dr David Oxenham at the Marie Curie

Hospice, Edinburgh, and Professor Scott

Murray from the University of Edinburgh.

The 20-month project aimed to see

whether improvements in palliative

care made by the Midlothian Gold

Standards Framework project, an

intervention in seven nursing homes

in Scotland in 2007-2008, could be

maintained using less support.

The project involved Barbara and

Rhona each spending one day

per week providing support,

workshops and training to the

seven care homes.

Anne explained:

“Exploring new approaches

to supporting good

palliative care in care

homes is important because

20% of people die in

Research

More research is needed to accurately understand children and young people’s preferred place of death.

These are the recommendations

for future inquiry and policy after a

systematic study of available literature

by Marie Curie researchers.

Although Marie Curie primarily looks

after the palliative care needs of adults,

the charity contributed to funding this

research because children with life-

limiting illnesses are now living longer

than ever before. This means many more

are now making the transition from

needing support for children to needing

adult services. Service providers should

be aware of the unique requirements of

these patients to enable seamless care to

continue once they reach 18 years of age.

The study was undertaken by

Dr Louise Jones, Head of the Marie Curie

Palliative Care Research Unit at University

College London, and her colleagues

Myra Bluebond-Langer, Emma Beecham,

Bridget Candy and Richard Langner.

ASSUMPTIONSLouise said: “We often hear that the

majority of people, given the choice,

would wish to die at home. There is the

policy assumption that what we have

learned from adults is applicable to a

YOUNG PEOPLE: NEW FINDINGSUNDERSTANDING

CHILDREN’S NEEDS:

Dr Louise Jones

EXPLORING

NEW

APPROACHES:

Anne Finucane

RESPECT: Ann Davison found that

Marie Curie’s brand and services are trusted

FOR MORE INFORMATIONThe research paper, Preferred place of death for children and young people with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions. A systematic review of the literature and recommendations for future inquiry and policy (Myra Bluebond-Langer, Emma Beecham, Bridget Candy, Richard Langner and Louise Jones), is available here: http://tinyurl.com/k8326l4

FOR MORE INFORMATIONThe research paper, Improving end of life care in nursing homes: implementation and evaluation of an intervention to sustain quality of care is available at http://tinyurl.com/mn6wg2r

child, a teenager or someone in early

adulthood with a life-limiting or terminal

illness. Our paper highlights that there is

no evidence to support this supposition.

“We found that hardly anyone is

actually asking children or young people

what they would like. Instead, they are

asking their parents, which is acceptable

if the child is very young. But as children

get older, it is important to understand

their views as well as their parents’, and

even their siblings’, about where they

would like to spend their fi nal days, and

indeed where they would like to die.”

DIFFICULTIESLouise’s study has revealed the diffi culties

of using existing research into adult and

parents’ preferences to fi nd out how young

people should be cared for. “The research

we have reviewed is biased towards white

middle class families – fi ndings which

are not perhaps applicable to people from

other groups. It also does not look at

examples of situations where a teenager

may already have their own children,

or more complex or extended family

situations, or what effect dying in the

home would have on others in the family.

We need to better understand such issues if

we are to develop care that meets the real

needs of young people and their families. ”

Ranking high in survey on trust

Study reveals factors that lead to quality palliative carecare homes and some 33,000 people in

Scotland are currently being looked after

in these settings.”

The project results show increases in

the number of care home residents

who died with an anticipatory care

plan in place; those with Do Not

Attempt Cardiopulmonary

Resuscitation documentation

in place; and those who

were on the Liverpool Care

Pathway when they died.

There was a reduction in

inappropriate hospital deaths

of frail and elderly residents with

dementia. However, overall hospital

deaths increased.

GOOD SUPPORTAnne said: “The fact that overall

hospital deaths increased suggests

that there are other factors that

impact the end-of-life care a resident

receives. Our data showed that

care homes where there had

been senior management

changes had much higher

levels of hospital deaths

than more stable care

homes. We realised that

while good support from

palliative care nurse

specialists and GPs can

help ensure that key processes remain in

place, stable care home management and

key champions are vital to ensure that a

robust, reliable palliative care approach

becomes embedded within the culture of

the care home.”

The Edinburgh hospice team

intends to build on the fi ndings

and roll out a new project to 22

South Edinburgh care homes,

funded by the Robertson Trust

and Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Anne said: “We are collecting

data throughout this project

and hope the results will show the

extent to which a hospice-based model

of care home support enables care home

staff to improve the delivery of palliative

care to their residents. This model – where

specialist palliative care providers support

staff in primary care settings to adopt

a palliative approach – is of particular

relevance in view of the need to better

support people with non-malignant life-

limiting disease, many of whom spend

their last year of life in a care home.”

20%The percentage

of people who die in care homes.

89%Respondents over 65 who

would trust a Marie Curie

Nurse to provide end-of-life care to a

loved one (rating 8-10). Only 50% of

people said they would have the same

level of trust in a regular nurse.

74%Respondents who would

trust a Marie Curie Nurse

(rating 8-10) to provide this care.

70%Approximate percentage

of respondents who

would trust a Marie Curie Healthcare

Assistant to provide end-of-life

care to a loved one (rating 8-10).

This compares with three in 10

people who say they would have

the same level of trust in a regular

healthcare assistant.

Key survey facts

7July 2013 People

Volunteering

Three cheers for our volunteersWhen Basil Priest’s wife, Beryl, passed away from cancer in 1987, he immediately off ered his help to Marie Curie, whose nurses at Holme Tower in Penarth, Wales, had looked after her so well.

Two days a week and at weekends,

Basil drives much-needed blood

and drugs from Llandough Hospital

and Velindre Cancer Centre to Marie

Curie’s Cardiff and the Vale Hospice.

He ensures the blood is iced and

well packed and that all supporting

paperwork is checked and signed.

Basil said volunteering gives him a

purpose in life. “Apart from my little

jobs around the house, I wouldn’t be

doing anything else. If you have had

a bereavement and want to occupy

your mind, look after people worse

off than yourself. Whether you work

in a hospice or a shop, everyone is

contributing to the same cause.”

Most of the 6,000 people who start a caring role in the UK every day are unprepared for the eff ect it will have on their lives, according to research conducted for this year’s Carers Week.

In the survey of 2,000 carers, 80 per

cent said they were surprised by the

impact on their health, relationships

and fi nances.

During Carers Week – themed Prepared

to Care? – Marie Curie ran events to

celebrate carers’ work, raise awareness of

the diffi culties they face and campaign

for better rights.

Hospices held events such as advice and

information sessions, and complementary

therapy and creative courses, while Marie

Curie’s Expert Voices group of current and

past carers met MPs at two Parliamentary

events, at Westminster and the Scottish

Parliament, to discuss the practical and

emotional support they need.

Analysis from the recent census

demonstrates that carers are two-and-a-

half times more likely to have bad or very

bad health because of their caring role.

The demands leave some so sick that they

PANEL TALK:

Marie Curie’s

Ruth Bravery

with Lucie

Heyes from

the College

of Social

Work and

Jenny Franks

from the

Children’s

Society

FOR MORE INFORMATIONIf you are thinking of volunteering and would like to know more, or would like to have a volunteer helping in your team, contact [email protected]

FOR MORE INFORMATIONHear the Carers Week show featuring Marie Curie staff at carersworldradio.com

Driving support vital to hospice

Basil Priest and Marie Curie Community

Fundraiser Helen Griffi ths

Carers Week prepare carers for role

The Marie Curie Hospice, Newcastle held a swish

Oscars-style celebration, complete with red-carpet entrance. With a quiz, a raffl e and competitions, all volunteers received a prize donated by staff to express their thanks for their hard work and commitment.

Among the celebrations at Albert Embankment, volunteer Heather

Burdett received a 10-year service award from CEO Dr Jane Collins.

Staff at Bradford Hospice showed a real fl air for celebrating. A ’70s themed event saw the hospice

decorated with glitter balls and lava lamps, and staff dressed in bellbottoms and fl ower power outfi ts. “Our volunteers are amazing,” said nurse manager Jean Gordon. “No area of the hospice would be the same without them.”

end up in hospital themselves, leaving

patients nearing the end of life without

the support they need to make decisions

about their preferred place of care.

Gerry Mahaffey, Marie Curie’s Assistant

Director of Carer Services and Patient

and Family Engagement, said: “We

need to identify and have conversations

with carers dealing with end of life

early in the decision-making process.

Without mechanisms to identify them, or

involvement from care professionals, we

can’t assess their needs around advocacy,

fi nancial benefi ts, respite and health. The

Parliamentary sessions helped highlight

issues around provision of such support.

“Marie Curie must continue to build

on the momentum from Carers Week,”

Gerry added, “by implementing its own

strategy to support those caring for

someone at the end of life and engaging

our key partners the relevant parts of

the organisation.”

This year’s Carers Week was delivered

by a coalition of seven voluntary sector

organisations, including Marie Curie

Cancer Care.

Choruses of “Thank you” were heard across the UK as hospices, shops and offi ces celebrated national Volunteers’ Week.

From barbecues and dinner

parties to quizzes and discos, events

organised by Marie Curie Cancer Care

staff applauded everyone who gives

up their time to support the charity.

Throughout the UK, more than 20

million volunteers donate 100 million

hours of time every week. Volunteers

involved with Marie Curie often

have had a personal connection to a

hospice or the nursing service, and

want to help others to benefi t from

the same care when they need it.

Director of Community

Involvement Ruth Bravery joined

staff in extending a million ‘thank

yous’. “The effort staff at hospices,

offi ces and shops have put in to

these events speaks volumes for how

much they appreciate our volunteers.

We wouldn’t be able to offer many

services if it wasn’t for volunteers’

support, or raise as much money as

we do,” she said.

The Liverpool Marie Curie Helper Service celebrated

Volunteers’ Week with quizzes, a buff et prepared by the hospice’s catering team and entertainment from volunteer Roy Barker, who had everyone singing along to folk classics.

Broadcasting during Carers Week from

Marie Curie’s Albert Embankment

offi ce, Carers World Radio presented its

latest programme in a series on young

carers, featuring interviews with Marie

Curie staff , carers and representatives

from other public sector organisations.

Presenter Tom Magner says his show

asks when help will be made available.

Care professionals and politicians

talk about a whole family

approach, so I was asking on the show:

how do you achieve that? Carers don’t

need to be told they’re doing a good job.

Actions speak louder than words.

“It doesn’t all need to be fi refi ghting.

Some councils anticipate problems,

think laterally and put money in

sensible places.

“We’ve had fantastic support from

Marie Curie. The charity is thinking

clearly and is proactive – how I expect

all charities to be.

During a barbecue at Hampstead

Hospice, long service recognition was made – with loud applause from staff – to volunteers, notably Day Therapy Unit helpers Anne Schneider and Heidi Corsi (pictured left and right with Day Therapy Unit Sister Sarah Doherty), who have been involved with Marie Curie for 25 years.

“Out of Carers Week, I’d like to see

young carers on the face of the Care

Bill, for the Department of Health and

Department of Education to collaborate

and take more responsibility, and for

campaigners to push harder – less talk,

more action.”

Radio show calls for less talk, more action

8 People July 2013

News

Pensions Automatic Enrolment is under wayPensions Automatic Enrolment started for

Marie Curie Cancer Care on 1 June 2013.

The charity has written to its employees

to notify them that, from 1 September

2013, all eligible employees who are not

currently in a pension scheme will have

to be automatically enrolled and

contributions will be paid to the new

Scottish Widows pension scheme

set up earlier this year. Eligible

employees are those between the

ages of 22 and State Pension age

earning more than £9,440 a year.

More than 3,000 letters were

issued, and this generated questions

from around 1.5% of recipients.

Automatic enrolment aims to help millions

of people build up a pension, to help them

improve their standard of living when they

retire. Upon retirement, this money will be

paid in addition to the state pension which

for new savers will be approximately

£7,000 per year where national insurance

contributions have been paid for 35 years.

It literally pays for you to contribute.

For many, retirement may seem a long

way off. But take it from people who are

retiring today – it will come round much

faster than expected and most retirees wish

they had started to put money aside earlier.

How does the money paid into the pension scheme accumulate?The money paid each month is invested

in a default investment fund selected by

the charity’s pension advisers. After the

fi rst contribution is paid, employees can

choose to stay in the default investment

option or make their own choices. As

most employees do not want to be actively

involved with picking investments and

keeping a close eye on what’s happening

in the market, the default fund has been

carefully selected with a relatively

low-risk profi le.

Online helpOne important aspect of the charity’s

pension scheme with Scottish Widows is

that employees can look at their pension

details online and keep in control of their

retirement planning.

Financial education is an important part

of the pension process, and all employees

should make time to understand the

impact that the choice they make will have

Many employees will experience for

the fi rst time pension contributions being

taken from their pay. The charity hopes

that they see this as a valuable investment

for their futures.

The good news is that if you are not

already in a pension scheme, you don’t

have to wait for September. You can join

the charity’s pension scheme before

then, by contacting the Pensions

and Remunerations Department

who will be more than happy

to help.

How employees benefi t A pension is a great way to build

up money for your retirement, as

both Marie Curie Cancer Care and

the taxman add to the money that is

paid by you. For example, if an employee

pays 80p into the pension scheme, the

taxman adds 20p and Marie Curie Cancer

Care adds £1. There are maximum limits

on the amount that employees and the

charity will pay, but where else can you

save 80p and turn it into £2 immediately?

Pensions – the latest on auto-enrolment

Two volunteers have represented Marie Curie Cancer Care at a reception hosted by Her Majesty the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

Tommy Haynes and Elliw Williams

were invited to the event, held to

celebrate the presentation of the Queen’s

Diamond Jubilee Volunteering Award to

60 organisations, including Marie Curie.

The two volunteers contributed to

the charity’s nomination for the award

by endorsing and supporting its work

with accounts of their personal

volunteering experiences.ROYAL SEAL OF APPROVAL: Tommy Haynes and Elliw Williams

with Marie Curie’s Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Volunteering Award

How will automatic enrolment aff ect employees’ September pay?Under automatic enrolment, employees make no choices. The table below provides example costs

for two diff erent salary levels.

on their retirement plans. If employees can

put a bit more aside much earlier in life,

then this will go a long way to helping

secure a better pension.

The online portal includes the following

useful fi nancial tools:

● Pension Planner: This allows employees

to see what their projected pension is

likely to be but also enables them to

work out how much they need to pay

into their pension to get the income

they want.

● Investment Decision Tool: This enables

employees that want to make their

own choices assess their attitude to

investment risk and map this to a

prebuilt investment portfolio.

● Indulgeometer: A simple and effective

tool to establish how, with a bit of

careful budgeting, we can all save

money by cutting back slightly.

Pension reminders and further helpMarie Curie will write to employees

again during August to remind them that

pension contributions are going to start

and its Pensions and Remuneration Team

are here to help. They understand that,

although online services provide important

information quickly, it is comforting to be

able to talk things through to make sure

everything is fully understood.

Salary Monthly cost –

1 August 2013 to

September 2017

(your 1% contribution,

Marie Curie’s 1%

contribution)

Monthly cost –

1 October 2017 to

September 2018


Marie Curie’s 2%

contribution)

Monthly cost –1 October 2018 onwards


Marie Curie’s 3%

contribution)

£12,000 per year You £8

Tax offi ce £2

Marie Curie £10

You £24

Tax offi ce £6

Marie Curie £20

You £40

Tax offi ce £10

Marie Curie £3

£22,000 per year You £14.66

Tax offi ce £3.67

Marie Curie £18.33

You £44

Tax offi ce £11

Marie Curie £36.67

You £73.33

Tax offi ce £18.34

Marie Curie £55

How do employees join the pension scheme?Employees don’t have to do anything to join the scheme as the charity will

automatically enrol them from September 2013 at the starting contribution rates,

shown in the table below.

“The reception was wonderful,” said

Tommy. “It felt surreal. Volunteering suits

unassuming people who aren’t used to the

limelight – let alone being in the presence

of royalty. I enjoyed it very much.”

Elliw said: “There was a very positive

feeling at the event – the Royals were

in our midst, and I was surprised how

much chatting there was. It was a once-

in-a-lifetime experience, and a nice

acknowledgement of our volunteering.”

The pair were congratulated by Marie

Curie Vice President Martyn Lewis CBE,

who attended the event.

Elliw, who runs a Public Relations

company in Canaerfon, helps the charity

with Welsh language translations and

also provides PR support. Tommy has

been volunteering with the charity’s

palliative care research programme in

Belfast since 2009. He is the author of a

number of papers, and is currently carrying

out a Marie Curie-funded study on stress

for his PhD.

Around 9,000 people volunteer regularly

for Marie Curie Cancer Care. A further

25,300 volunteers collect for the annual

Great Daffodil Appeal.

VOLUNTEERS ATTEND PALACE RECEPTION

Timing Marie Curie contribution

Your contribution

Government’s contribution

September 2013 to September 2017 1% 0.8% 0.2%

October 2018 to September 2018 2% 2.4% 0.6%

October 2018 onwards 7.5% 4% 1%19 million

Predicted number of people over the age of 65 in the UK by

2050, almost double today’s fi gure of

10 million.

9July 2013 People

Feature

NEW PATRONSMarie Curie has three new Patrons:

Sharman Birtles JP DL for Greater

Manchester, Georgina Hunter Gordon

for Essex and Nella Probert for

Suff olk. Sharman is the charity’s fi rst

Patron in Manchester, while Georgina

and Nella take over from Philippa

Cannon and Sir Edward Greenwell

respectively. Patrons are senior

volunteers and ambassadors for Marie

Curie who assist with fundraising

and raising awareness. The charity

particularly needs more Patrons in

London and the home counties – email

fi [email protected] if

you have any suggestions.

GARDENING VOLUNTEERSGreen-fi ngered staff from mobile

network operator EE have spent a

day tidying gardens at the Marie

Curie Hospice, Newcastle – painting

furniture, tending to plants and

clearing the pond.

AWARD FOR MAUREEN Maureen Nix, Treasurer

of the Warminster &

District Fundraising

Group, has

won the award of

Community Hero from

the Wiltshire Times.

Community Fundraiser

Lucy Stockall said:

“Maureen has been fantastic in her

role as Treasurer and is a real doer.

The award was for the work that she

does for charities in the area and we

are very proud of her.”

TV TIMES All patients at the Marie Curie

Hospice, Liverpool will now have

access to their own televisions.

Some 30 TVs were installed at the

hospice. The TVs were purchased

through restricted donations the

hospice received.

CHARLIE IS NEW CIO Charlie Hooper, Marie Curie Cancer

Care’s new Chief Information Offi cer,

has started work for the charity.

Charlie joined from Deloitte, the

accounting and consulting company,

where he ran the Public Sector and

Charities Data Analytics team. Full

report next issue.

PSSST! POSTS Pssst! – Marie Curie’s internal

newsfeed – has just celebrated

another birthday. Since launching on

the intranet back in 2008, more than

2,300 posts have been made. Pssst!

is open to all staff in Marie Curie to

share news and intelligence.

NEWS IN BRIEF

I was quite scared about being introduced to a hospice because of

the connotation of death and dying. I’d never seen one before so I didn’t know what to expect.

“Dr Adrian Tookman, the Hospice

Clinical Director, is reassuring and very

good at explaining things. Sometimes, the

time spent with a hospital consultant is

very short, so it’s good to have Adrian to

explain what everything means and for

me to talk about my anxieties.

“At the moment I’m having a course

of hypnotherapy once a week, which

is helping me to deal with anxiety, and

I’ve learned techniques to help with pain

relief. That’s been really excellent. I’ve

also been having massages.

“I see a counsellor at the hospice – it’s

someone I really like. It may sound like

a weird thing to say but I actually enjoy

going. She cheers me up and has helped

me with things that I’ve put off for ages,

like writing a will. I haven’t been good

about motivating myself to do it and

when I mention it to my family they feel

awkward about it. So she’s arranged for

someone to meet me at the hospice so I

can sort it all out, which is really helpful.

CHARMING STAFF“I started chemo again in December,

which I’ve just fi nished, and

unfortunately it didn’t work, so I’ve

just started some hormone therapy. I’ll

know in a month or so if that’s having

any effect. But I feel quite well and I

genuinely do fi nd it very helpful to have

somewhere like Marie Curie to go to. It’s

a happy place. All the staff are absolutely

charming and you get to meet lots of

other people there who also go regularly.

“I had my fi rst blood transfusion last

year and had to stay the night. I was

really pleased to be there because I was

nervous and didn’t know what to expect.

I could have visitors at any time, I was

in my own room and it just wasn’t like

being in a hospital where no one with a

terminal illness really wants to be. The

hospice staff know my history, what

medication I’ve had, what works etcetera.

Hospital staff just aren’t trained in

palliative care – it’s all very general there.

“I do feel lucky that I am well supported.

My GP is close by, I have a palliative care

nurse, I attend the University College

Hospital and, of course, I have Marie Curie.

I also have some really good friends and

I’m near my family.

“It’s disappointing that some friends

have fallen off the radar. My one piece

of advice to anyone who knows someone

with a terminal illness would be to just

stay in touch.

FRANK TALKING“I can talk about my illness with my

friends – I’m very frank. But I can sense

when someone is uncomfortable so I

won’t go into too much detail in that

case. My core group of friends know

when I have hospital appointments and

treatments and I often have a friend to

come with me.

“Talking about dying tends to make

people feel uncomfortable so I don’t talk

about that much. I have friends who

Alison Leary, a day patient at the Marie Curie Hospice, Hampstead, talks about her hopes and fears.

have had cancer, so they understand a

bit more. But also, I don’t want to bore

people rigid because it’s been going on

for seven years now!

“I’ve had discussions with Adrian and

my palliative care nurse about where I’d

like to die and my general feeling is that

I’d like to be at home. But if that’s not

possible then I’d like to be in the hospice.

I’d like to avoid hospital by any means.

“I’ve asked Adrian what might happen

if there’s no room in the hospice, but he’s

reassured me that when the time comes,

they will do everything possible to get

me where I want to be. We’ve also talked

about managing pain and I’ve been told

there are lots of things that they can do

to avoid me being in pain, which is a

great comfort.

“I’m not really a ‘bucket list’ sort

of person, mainly because I’ve been

fortunate enough to travel a lot and had

a varied life. I like to spend time with the

people I like and to do things that I enjoy.

“In the beginning, when I was fi rst

diagnosed, I was frightened about what

it all meant. But you have to make sense

of your life. For some people that means

making a bucket list, but for me, I just

thought, ‘I have to live.’

“I feel a bit sillier now – I don’t care

what people think of me any more. For

example, I’ve just had my hair done after

it started growing back. I’ve always had it

brown, but my hairdresser suggested I go

blonde, so I said ‘oh ok then’ and I’ve just

come home blonde.

“I enjoy life. In a way, sometimes I

enjoy life more now. There are things that

I’d like to do, like go to Paris this summer

as I haven’t been in a long time. But

really, I’d just like to spend quality time

with nice people.”

“Sometimes I enjoy life more now”

WELL

SUPPORTED:

Alison Leary

feels lucky

to have her

friends, family

and Marie

Curie nearby

My advice to anyone who knows someone with

a terminal illness? Just stay in touch.

W

S

A

fe

to

f

a

C

r

ntastic in her

MY STORY

People July 201310

The Prince – who is Marie Curie’s Royal Patron – was greeted by the Lord-Lieutenant for the West Midlands Mr Paul Sabapathy CBE. Marie Curie Chairman John Varley introduced Chief Executive Dr Jane Collins, Hospice Manager Liz Cottier and Appeal Chairman Chris Rawstron to His Royal Highness.

The Prince visited the hospice day

services area, spending time chatting with

patients about art. He met in-patients,

and spent time touring the extensive

grounds of the hospice and talking to the

volunteer gardening team. He also met

pupils and teachers from the local Solihull

School, all of whom have a personal

family connection to Marie Curie.

The Prince gave a speech praising the

work of volunteers, staff, fundraisers

and supporters and unveiled a plaque

commemorating the offi cial opening of

the hospice. The weather throughout the

visit was cloudy, with sunny spells.

The Prince was joined by long-term

Marie Curie supporters girl group, The

Saturdays, who got behind the building

of the new hospice since laying the fi rst

brick two years ago.

Marie Curie Chief Executive Dr Jane

Feature

Collins said: “We are honoured that His

Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales

and The Saturdays were able to attend

today and open our new hospice and

meet our staff, volunteers and patients.

We are grateful to everyone who has

been involved in raising the funds to

build this fantastic new hospice which

His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales offi cially opened the new £20million Marie Curie Hospice, West Midlands in Solihull.

ROYAL PATRON OPENS OURNEW HOSPICE

will allow us to care for more patients

across the West Midlands.”

Rochelle Humes from The Saturdays

attended for her fi rst offi cial public

appearance since the birth of her

daughter. She said: “It is such an

honour to be part of such a special day

and amazing to see how fantastic the

hospice looks and we are all very proud

to be ambassadors for Marie Curie.”

Marie Curie Cancer Care recently

announced that its BIG Build Appeal to

fund and equip the hospice had reached

its £7 million fundraising target.

The appeal, which ran for two

years, has seen star names such as

Torvill and Dean, The Saturdays,

Clive Anderson, Bill Oddie, Sir Clive

Woodward and Digby, Lord Jones of

Birmingham all kindly lending their

support. The local community has also

played a vital role with fundraising

activities ranging from brave men

waxing their hairy legs to long distance

bike rides, vintage swims, medieval

banquets and quiz teams battling it

out at the annual Birmingham

Brain Game.

The new Marie Curie Hospice, West

Midlands allows staff to support

more patients and their families and

carers than the former Marie Curie

Hospice, Solihull. Outpatient services

enable more patients to remain

at home with the best possible

quality of life.

The day therapy unit supports

twice as many patients, off ering

clinical support, rehabilitation,

emotional support, practical advice

and complementary therapies.

The hospice is also a base for the

Marie Curie Nursing Service for the

whole of the West Midlands.

Serving more patients

HRH The Prince of Wales with The Saturdays Prince Charles meets Chef Kevin Jones and hospice team members

140,000Man-hours taken to

construct the new

Marie Curie Hospice,

West Midlands.

24Number of en suite

bedrooms – 40 per cent

more than the previous

Marie Curie Hospice, Solihull.

2,500Number of extra nights

of care now available every

year at the new hospice.

July 2013 People 11

Feature

Appeal Patron Sir Adrian Cadbury DL meets HRH The Prince of Wales Patient Rod MacDonald and HRH The Prince of Wales talk in the potting area

Mrs Gurbaksh Dhillon chats with the Royal guest

People July 201312

Serves 4

SAUCEINGREDIENTS2 white onions, peeled

2 sticks lemongrass1 large red/green chilli 40g peeled fresh ginger4 spring onions1 bunch fresh coriander 4 cloves garlic, peeled

1 lime leaf 1 tin coconut milk300ml double cream30g chicken bouillon

½tsp pepper½tsp salt1tsp turmeric1tsp cumin/mild curry powder1tsp ground coriander2/3tbsp sugarCorn fl our Oil 300ml water

METHOD1 Split and smash ends of

lemon grass.

2 Roughly chop onions,

chillies, ginger, spring onions,

coriander and garlic.

3 Fry all these (adding lemongrass

and lime leaves) in oil. When onions

soften, add salt and pepper, turmeric,

cumin, coriander and sugar.

4 Stir in chicken bouillon and

coconut milk and bring to boil.

5 Once boiled, add cream and

water and simmer for one hour.

6 Using corn fl our, thicken if

needed.

7 Blend broth with stick blender

until smooth.

8 Pass through fi ne sieve.

9 Adjust consistency using

more cream/water. For richer colour,

blend in more fresh coriander.

CHICKENINGREDIENTS3 chicken supremes, skinless

30g peeled ginger½ bunch coriander2 cloves garlicZest and fl esh of 1 lime1tsp turmeric1tsp cumin

METHOD1 Place chicken in container

with splash of oil and remaining

ingredients and marinade for

24 hours. Seal off in a pan and

fi nish in oven at a minimum

of 79oC.

2 Slice breast into 5/6 slices.

3 Cover with the sauce.

STIR-FRIED VEGETABLESINGREDIENTS1 packet baby corn1 yellow pepper1 sliced red onion

3/4 spring onions2 pak choi Handful of mange tout/green beansFresh corianderSeasoning

METHOD1 Stir fry vegetables just before

serving. Add pak choi and fresh

coriander.

3 Scatter over fi nished chicken

and sauce.

Food for thought

Recipe of the month... Thai Green Curry Graham White, Head Chef at the Marie Curie Hospice, Cardiff and the Vale. I learned to cook at college. I spent years as a freelance chef before working with Chilli Pepper Oxford (now Jamie’s Fabulous Feasts). Our most challenging events were in strange places; once we set up a kitchen in Warwick Castle’s chapel. This recipe’s fresh fl avour and creamy texture suits our patients’ tastes.

RECRUITMENT EXPERT: Linsey Winter

MUSIC LOVER: Suzana Drummond, possibly

planning her desert island playlist

CHOP TO IT: Graham White

STEP ONE – GET THE ROLE RIGHTBefore you start to recruit a volunteer,

you need a volunteer role description.

You may already have one which you

just need to update. If it’s a new role,

contact your National Volunteering

Manager who can support you in

writing this.

The Volunteer Centre will advertise

your opportunity on our website and on

selected national volunteering websites.

STEP TWO – SELECT THE RIGHT PERSONThe Volunteer Centre will forward you a

volunteer registration form for anyone

interested in the role. If you are happy

that the individual meets the role’s

requirements, you need to arrange a

selection conversation with them,

ideally face to face.

A SONGAbout fi ve years ago, my neighbours

would play a piece of music very loudly,

very often. Far from fi nding it irritating I

would actually turn down my own music

to listen to it. I asked them what it was,

but they couldn’t work out which music

I was referring to, so I said I’d pop over

the next time I heard it.

A few days later, there it was again!

So I knocked on my neighbour’s door.

When they answered I said, “This is the

music I love! What is it?” My neighbour

explained they were praying and the

music was a mantra. A couple of days

later he came over with a copy on CD

for me. It’s called Om Namah Shivaya

and it really is the most amazing

music ever.

A LUXURY ITEMI’d have to take my iPod. I don’t think

I could live without music – the right

song can change your mood altogether.

How do I… recruit a volunteer? Desert island essentials

Linsey Winter, National Volunteering Manager (South), provides a simple three-step guide to recruiting a Marie Curie Volunteer.

Imagine you’re marooned on a desert island. What items would you want with you? What song, book or fi lm couldn’t you live without? We asked Suzana Drummond, Governance Lead in Caring Services, for three things she couldn’t live without.

STEP THREE – COMPLETE THE RECRUITMENT PROCESSOnce you have selected someone

for your role, the Volunteer Centre

will send them a Welcome Pack and

complete all recruitment checks, such

as taking up two references. When all

essential checks have been completed,

you will receive a clearance email and

they will be ready to start.

It’s a good idea to leave around three

months from planning the role to the

volunteer starting.

So that would be pretty vital if you

were stuck on your own.

A BOOKI’d bring the Count Of Monte Cristo –

it’s the best book ever. I’m not going

to spoil it, but it’s full of intrigue,

honour and revenge. It’s a long read

but is absolutely worth it. When I

was reading it on my way home from

work, I missed my bus stop on two

occasions because I was so engrossed

and couldn’t put it down. And

actually, the book could double up

as a pillow too…

MUSIC LOVER: Suzana Drummond, possibly

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Suduko answersBelow are the

answers to

the Suduko

puzzles on

page 19.

WRITE TO US Do you have an idea for the Food for thought page – a recipe or advice column? Perhaps you would like to feature in our Desert island essentials section? Write to us at [email protected]

July 2013 People 13

Our team

In the past decade, there has been a clear movement in how

care staff view patients – from thinking purely in terms of their physical situation to looking holistically at all their needs.

The Marie Curie Hospice, Cardiff and

the Vale has always had a day unit, but

it was once nurse-led, with little

complementary therapy. Now, my Day

Therapy team focuses on issues such as

anxiety and fatigue management and

offering emotional, psychological and

spiritual support. There’s a lot of group

work – from reminiscing about the past

to yoga, hypnotherapy and more

creative activities. If a person is

chronically fatigued, having an

occupational therapist guide them

through exercises they can do at home

makes a huge difference to their lives.

We match the patient with their needs.

We don’t slot them into services that

aren’t suitable for them.

An important part of our role is

listening. Our focus groups tell us they

want education, emotional help and to

have fun. We introduced activities such

as cupcake decorating, painting and

music days – one of our social workers

is in a choir and has led singing

sessions. We even had a Bollywood

dancer perform.

The patients take ownership of the

activity programme. Part of our role is

to give them independence.

LIFE JOURNEYIn one of our most successful projects,

patients mapped out their life journeys

– from birth, with photos of themselves as

babies, through their fi rst school, fi rst

partner, fi rst car, holidays and marriage to

the present day. It was interesting to see

the experiences of different age groups.

Some patients are in their 40s, while

others in their 80s are able to talk about

serving in the war.

It was poignant. We saw patients as

young people with careers and we found

out who they really are – not just a

person who is ill. We had an exhibition of

their timelines. It enabled patients to talk

about death and what their families mean

to them. It validated their lives.

One of my team suggested gearing

our services more to younger patients.

We have many between 18 and 40, who

dip in and dip out of sessions, and we’re

inviting a group in for lunch to fi nd out

what they want and how we can extend

our activities to their families.

DYNAMIC TEAMMy team is dynamic. We’re not medics,

but we each bring professional values.

The team is made up of social workers,

occupational therapists, physiotherapists,

coordinators and a chaplain. We meet

regularly to learn from each other and

hear colleagues’ perspectives. As

manager, I try to empower them to

bring their life skills to the table and

try new ideas. I don’t want to stifl e

people’s creativity.

Without volunteering support, we

wouldn’t have the service. Transport to

the hospice, for instance, is a huge issue

for some of our patients, so our drivers

are essential. Volunteers also give us extra

capacity to offer our services to carers,

who sometimes need complementary

therapy or just someone to talk to.

PATIENT BENEFITSPatients appreciate they need to have

their physical bodies mended, but they

need the psychological fi x. It gives them

confi dence – a reason to get up in the

morning, to put on nice clothes. We see

a difference in their appearance.

They want to support each other.

Patients don’t always want to talk to

Jill Templeman joined Marie

Curie Cancer Care in 1985,

when Cardiff and the Vale

Hospice opened as Holme

Tower Hospice. She worked as

an auxiliary nursing assistant

for 12 years, before leaving

to complete a social work

degree. She had various roles in social services before

returning to the hospice in 2001 to set up and develop

rehabilitation and quality of life services.

Why Marie Curie? “I think the staff and nurses here

have an inspiring outlook – seeing patients as people

and not just as someone with cancer,” said Jill.

Jill’s Day Therapy team comprises four social

workers, two full time and two job share; two

occupational therapists; two physiotherapists; two

coordinators; a chaplain; and about 20 volunteers,

including drivers and complementary therapists.

FOR MORE INFORMATIONFor information about Jill’s team and the services they off er, contact Jill on [email protected]

Patients need the psychological fi x. They want to interact with people who truly empathise with them.JILL TEMPLEMAN

Profi le: Jill Templeman

family and friends about their anxieties.

They need to interact with people who

truly empathise with their situation,

which is why day therapy is vital. I’m

always surprised by how groups gel and

share intimate fears. When someone is

coming to the end of their life, everything

is stripped away. There’s a realness and

a warmth about the person.”

LIFE JOURNEYS: Patients plotted personal timelines from their births to the present day

CREATIVE OUTLET: From singing to cupcake decorating, patients learn a variety of new skills

PHYSICAL SUPPORT: Massages and simple

exercises make a huge diff erence to wellbeing

Passionate about palliative care, Jill Templeman strives to give patients quality of life and the skills and support they need to manage their illnesses. Jill is Day Therapy Manager at Marie Curie’s Cardiff and the Vale Hospice, where she fi rst started working in 1985. She and her team off er essential emotional, psychological and creative support to patients.

A LOOK AT DAY THERAPY

People July 201314

Feature

Marie Curie Cancer Care’s biggest supporter, the National Gardens Scheme (NGS), ran a new event to raise money for the charities it funds.

The National Gardens Weekend involved

800 gardens opening to the public.

To help publicise the weekend, Marie

Curie Nurses, colleagues and volunteers

were photographed in gardens that

open for the NGS and in Marie Curie

Hospice gardens.

TV and radio presenter Anneka Rice

re-lived her Treasure Hunt days, complete

with jumpsuit and helicopter, visiting fi ve

gardens in Surrey, Hampshire, Wiltshire,

Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. In

Oxfordshire, she met Marie Curie Chief

Executive Dr Jane Collins.

Jane said: “Here at Marie Curie we

understand the importance and impact that

gardens have on people’s lives. Our nurses

work in people’s homes and have observed

how much joy gardens can give people in

their last days.

“If patients are keen gardeners they

Social care services – such as help with washing, dressing, preparing food and other non-medical aspects of care – play a critical role in keeping terminally ill people out of hospital. Research by the Nuffi eld Trust has shown that people who get local authority-funded social care are far less likely to use hospital care than people without social care support.

Unfortunately, in England, social care can be

very diffi cult to access. Unlike NHS care, it isn’t

free to everyone. So before a local authority can

give you care, it will assess your means to pay for

care and also consider how severe your care needs

are. Different local authorities set different levels

of eligibility, so while you can be eligible for care

in one local authority, you might not be in others.

The Care Bill, which is currently being debated

in the House of Lords, aims to simplify the social

care system. The Bill will:

● set a standard level of eligibility for care across

England, so that if you are eligible for care you

should remain so no matter where you go in

the county

● raise the level of the means test, so more

people should qualify for free care

● put a cap on the amount of money you have

to contribute to your own care, meaning

that people should spend less on care during

their lifetimes

Many of the Bill’s provisions should prove

benefi cial to terminally ill people and their carers.

There is a duty on local authorities to provide

information and support to everyone about the

range of care services on offer in the area where

they live. This should help carers in particular,

who often struggle to navigate the various services

available on behalf of their loved ones.

The Bill also says that the NHS must tell a

local authority if it is discharging someone from

hospital who needs social care. For every day that

the NHS is unable to discharge someone because

there is no social care support available, it can

charge the local authority the cost of keeping that

person in hospital.

This should help ensure more terminally ill

people get good care and support at home or

in a care home once they leave hospital and

reduce their chances of going back into hospital,

potentially lowering the number of people who die

in hospital each year.

The Bill doesn’t address the speed at which the

system moves, and we know this can be a problem

for terminally ill people – waiting 10-30 days

for care when you are terminally ill and time is

precious is simply unacceptable.

However, Peers are currently scrutinising the

Bill and will be considering ways that it can be

improved before it is debated by MPs and then

becomes law.

often ask to be brought out to their

gardens, or to be positioned in bed so

that they can look at them. Patients at

our nine hospices also fi nd comfort in the

gardens, which we make an effort to keep

in top condition.

“We have therefore always been proud

to be a partner of the NGS, a scheme

that brings the peace and happiness of

beautiful gardens to the public. Money

raised by the scheme and by National

Gardens Weekend will help our nurses

provide more of the hands-on support that

they are known for.”

National Gardens Weekend is blooming marvellous

Making social care workBy Policy and Public Aff airs Manager Scott Sinclair

CHARMING CROFT HALL:

Lesley Brennan, Jean Morley

and Caitlin Parker

HERBACEOUS HACKNEY: Nikki Biggs,

Joe Swift and Claire Hogan at 17a

Navarino Road, Hackney, London

CAPTIVATING CARDIFF: Nurse Debbie Malaney,

NGS garden owner Sarah Saunders-Davies,

and Mayor of Romsey Mark Cooper

WONDERFUL WASHINGTON: Marie Curie Nurse

Katie Searles at Washington Old Hall garden,

Tyne and Wear

BLOOMING BRISTOL: Marie Curie Nurse

Catherine Le Roy and County Organiser Su Mills

in Coombe Dingle, Bristol

SCENIC SURREY: Nurse Eileen Derricutt, Community Fundraiser Surrey Yvonne Orr, and Farnham NGS garden

owners Mr and Mrs Wingent

About: Marie Curie and the National Gardens Scheme

al

VIEWPOINT

SPECIAL OFFEREvery year, the National Gardens Scheme publishes The Yellow Book, the guide to all the gardens open under the scheme. The 2013 edition is available to supporters of Marie Curie at a special price of £5 (RRP £9.99). To get your copy of The Yellow Book, follow the link ngs.org.uk and enter the Marie Curie code MCPYB13.

CHARMING CROFT HALL:

WONDERFUL WASHINGTON: Marie Curie Nurse BL

HERBACEOUS HACKNEY: Nikki Biggs,

CAPTIVATING CARDIFF: Nurse Debbie Malaney WO LOOMING BRISTOL: Marie Curie NurseBL

Since its creation in 1927, the National

Gardens Scheme (NGS) has raised

money for nursing and gardening

charities by opening more than 3,800

private gardens of character from

March to October each year and

donating the entrance fee to charity.

The NGS has supported Marie Curie

with annual donations since 1996,

and is the charity’s biggest-ever single

donor. The 2013 donation takes the

total past £6 million. In recognition,

in 2013 a number of Marie Curie

nurses will wear jackets carrying the

message ‘Supported by the National

Gardens Scheme’.

Other charities supported by the

NGS include Crossroads, Macmillan

Cancer Support and the National Trust.

For more information, visit ngs.org.uk.

July 2013 People 15

Feature

I always thought it would be fascinating and inspiring to shadow

Jane and it certainly was. In a relatively short time, she has become well versed in all aspects of our organisation, learned about the partners we work with, formed a view on how the charity should be progressing, and knows how to get the best from everyone she works with.

If anyone thinks that being a CEO of a

charity involves a little light networking

with VIPs, you couldn’t be more wrong.

One of the many things which interested

me about shadowing Jane was her

previous background as a Consultant

Paediatric Neurologist at Great Ormond

Street Hospital. Consultants are trained

to know a huge amount about their own

specialism, but they do not necessarily

have the same depth of knowledge about

other specialties.

The job of a CEO is almost the polar

opposite, requiring a huge breadth of

knowledge, rather than extreme detail in

any one area. When I asked Jane about

the shift from Consultant to CEO, she told

me that she hadn’t really found it diffi cult,

and that she had made the change to CEO

in a couple of steps. She initially became

a Clinical Director at GOSH, then Medical

Two Marie Curie Hospices received a fi ve-star pass mark in a recent health and safety audit.

Both the Marie Curie Hospice, Newcastle and the

Marie Curie Hospice, Glasgow passed the external

inspection with fl ying colours.

Claire Guise, Health and Safety Manager, said: “Not

only does this mean these hospices are complying with

the law, the necessary standards and best practice,

but they are also meeting our policy requirements.

This achievement is testament to the leadership of

the Facilities Managers at each hospice and also the

collective efforts of their teams and the willingness

to get it right.”

Gill White, Facilities Manager at the Marie Curie

Hospice, Newcastle said: “We achieved these results

through a concerted team effort. We have a very

Director, before becoming CEO. This

gave her the chance to take on more

of a management role over time.

Jane is able to function at both the

‘helicopter’ CEO level and the Consultant

‘microscopic’ level. My impression is that

Jane will examine the detail when she

needs to in order to ensure quality in

any area of the charity, but can equally

maintain the overview the rest of the

time. Effectively, we get the best of

both worlds.

A day with Jane spanned so many

different departments, initiatives, and

potential partners. She is incredibly

focused, manages her time well and

runs a tight diary. Supported by her

equally focused PA, Susan Morton, she

accomplishes a tremendous amount

each day, meeting with various agencies,

internal teams and associations.

She appears to do a lot of reading

outside of work, as her knowledge on the

topics we were meeting about during the

day was obvious. I’d like to know how she

does it, because she is able to source what

she needs to know and hones in on the key

issues and insights.

I enjoyed the day and would encourage

other colleagues to identify people within

Marie Curie that they would like to

shadow, and then ask them.

I was really lucky to get a tiny insight

into the world of our CEO, and am

grateful to Jane for being so open to my

request. I’ve also picked up a few things

I want to incorporate into my own

way of working.”

SHADOWINGDR JANE COLLINS Divisional General Manager for Scotland Nichola Summers spent a day shadowing Marie Curie’s Chief Executive Dr Jane Collins. Nichola spoke to Marie Curie People about the experience.

engaged and responsive Environment and Risks

Committee, and health and safety champions responsible

for different aspects, which ensure we keep on top

of any issues.”

Marie Curie’s other hospices received either a four-

or three-star rating. The Marie Curie Shop in Byker,

Newcastle also received fi ve-star certifi cation.

Every year, the charity undertakes a health and

safety review of all its hospices as well as a

representative shop and an offi ce, which is conducted

by an external consultant.

During the audit, a variety of health and safety

criteria are measured including fi re safety, workplace

safety, manual handling and how consultation and

communication about health and safety issues is

carried out.

Jane is able to function at both the ‘helicopter’ CEO level and the Consultant ‘microscopic’ level.

Hospices commended for fi ve-star health and safety

FIVE STAR: The Marie Curie Hospice, Newcastle passed its external health and

safety inspection with fl ying colours

INSIGHT: Nichola Summers (right) relished the opportunity

to fi nd out more about CEO Dr Jane Collins’ work

● Don’t lose sight of the big picture:

the continuing success of

Marie Curie requires us to be

aware of changes in the world

outside, in areas such as fi nance,

health and social care, politics,

and the third sector generally.

● Always look for the next

improvement: do not allow

yourself to be complacent about

what we do well. Everything can

be improved.

● Give your full attention to

the person in front of you:

you are more likely to ask the

right questions and achieve the

objective for the meeting if you

are not thinking about the next

thing you have to do.

● Guard your time and maintain

focus: keep meetings to time;

delegate eff ectively; and do not

allow interruptions to steal

your time.

Finalising the content for the Leadership Summit

for the senior leadership team with Nicky Watson

Meeting with Head of Analytics Dr Michael Cooke,

Medical Adviser Dr Teresa Tate and Assistant

Director of Quality Assurance Ruth Liley to

consider clinical key performance indicators,

and patient outcome measures

Meeting with Marianne Fallon from KPMG to

discuss external audit

Teleconference on the Marie Curie Hospice Strategy

Travel to Sutton for meeting

Meeting with Bridget Warr, UK Home Care

Association Ltd.

Return travel to 89 Albert Embankment (plus a

very quick sandwich)

Meeting with Chris Hopson, Chief Executive of

the Foundation Trust Network, to discuss how

best to engage with Foundation Trusts

Meeting with Director of Communications

Chris Dainty to discuss the Marie Curie brand

Nichola’s top tips from time spent with Dr Jane Collins

A day in the life of Dr Jane Collins

People July 201316

Celebration

CELEBRATION (left to right): Christine Williamson, Lynne

Herbert with Colin Wilson from The Rotary Club of Esk Valley,

which sponsored the award WINNER: Stuart Witts with the award

Award for Dalkeith Fundraising Group

Climbing the social media chart

CELEBRATION (left to right): Christine Williamson Lynne

The Marie Curie Cancer Care Dalkeith Fundraising Group has won an award from the Volunteer Centre Midlothian, in recognition of the £25,000 it’s raised for the charity since forming in November 2011.

The group was shortlisted for the Organisational

Support Award, which recognises volunteers who

make a contribution to fundraising and supporting

charities, and pipped three other groups to fi rst place.

Fundraisers Christine Williamson, who leads the

group’s events, and Lynne Herbert, who is responsible

for publicity and legacy-giving within the group,

attended the award ceremony at Newbattle Abbey

College in Dalkeith.

Lynne said: “It was great to receive such

recognition for all of our hard work and a good

excuse to get semi-dressed up and celebrate. We are

sharing custody of the award so we can each show it

off to our friends, families and supporters. Christine

had the fi rst go at babysitting it. It’s a proper big glass

shiny thing with our group’s name engraved on it.”

Arlene Main, Community Fundraiser, at the

Marie Curie Hospice, Edinburgh, said: “The group is

terrifi c. They’ve done more than just raise money:

they’ve raised awareness of Marie Curie. They’ve also

encouraged others to fundraise and volunteer and

really made Marie Curie part of their community.

I am extremely proud of them.”

A volunteer at the Marie Curie Shop in Corstorphine, received an award during Volunteers’ Week to recognise 20 years of service to the charity.

Winifred ‘Winnie’ Allan, 93, has been helping out since the shop fi rst

opened in the Edinburgh neighbourhood in 1993.

Winnie said: “I started 20 years ago at the wee shop along the road

when it fi rst opened, working behind the counter on the tills. It’s really

good for me to come in here every Monday. I open the bags, steam the

clothes and put price stickers on goods.”

Winnie also keeps busy delivering church magazines and

organising the ‘Heather’ Bowling League, which recently celebrated

its 25th anniversary.

Marie Curie Cancer Care came 34th out of the top 100 brands in social media and fourth out of the 15 other charities also nominated for inclusion in this year’s Social Brands 100 report.

The report is a ranking that looks at

how effectively and creatively brands

are at using social media such as Twitter,

Facebook and YouTube.

Stuart Witts, Social Media Manager,

said: “Although it’s hard to accurately

measure social media, appearing in

this ranking shows that what we are

doing clearly works. Our social media

strategy is raising the profi le of the

charity with a different audience and

shows we’re a modern, up-to-date brand

and organisation that’s caught people’s

attention.”

Last year, the charity ranked 41st

overall and jumped up several places

within the charity sector. The ranking

is based on such factors as the growth

PROACTIVE: Individual Giving Fundraiser (Legacies)

Kate McGrath with the new Marie Curie legacies

booklet from The Rotary Club of Esk Valley

KEEPING BUSY: Winifred Allan with her long service award

A record number of people decided to remember Marie Curie Cancer Care in their Wills last year, with pledges totalling some £26.4 million in future income.

The number of people pledging

to support the charity in 2012-

2013 grew to 1,241, up

from a previous high of

749 in 2010-2011. This

rise in legacy-giving is due

to several factors.

Dan Carter, Individual Giving

Manager, said: “We have worked

more closely with our six regional Legacy

Advisors to support them and help them

target supporters. We have also changed

our integrated direct marketing approach,

which included our fi rst ever telemarketing

campaign that reached some 5,000

supporters. In addition, we decided

to increase the number of Gifts

for the Future events we run.

“But we couldn’t have

increased the number of

legacy pledges without

help from the Community

Fundraisers and all our staff in

the regions. The decision to leave

a legacy comes at the end of someone’s

journey supporting the charity. It is the

result of building up direct experience

of the work our nurses do and a strong

personal relationship with people who

represent the charity.”

Marie Curie decided to change its

strategy to legacy-giving last year

following supporter research.

Kate McGrath, Individual Giving

Fundraiser, said: “The feedback showed

that supporters are happy to talk

about leaving the charity a gift in their

Wills. They want to be approached

proactively and positively by Marie

Curie and to be able to support the

charity in this way. They want to know

how their gifts will help the charity

in future.”

On top of this success, the Legacy

Administration team exceeded its

fi nancial targets for 2012-13 by

£1 million, at £22.7 million. This equates

to almost a third of the charity’s

voluntary income.

RECORD NUMBER REMEMBER US

Two decades of volunteeringLONG SERVICE AWARD

£26.4mIncome from pledged giftsin 2012-13.

FOR MORE INFORMATIONTo see the full list and download a copy of the report to read more about how the list is put together, visit socialbrands100.com

of fans, response rate and times, video

views, average post engagement rates and

how much effort the organisation spends

on talking and engaging with people. The

top brand was Battlefi eld, a video game

by Electronic Arts.

1. Dog’s Trust

2. ARKive

3. Blue Cross UK

4. Marie Curie Cancer Care

5. National Trust

6. Teenage Cancer Trust

7. WWF

8. British Heart Foundation

9. British Red Cross

10. Virgin Money Giving

Top 10: charity sector brands

socialbrands100.comgame

nds

July 2013 People 17

Fundraising

Three men from the Northampton Saints RFC have run 69 miles along Hadrian’s Wall in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Paul Shields, the club’s Team Manager

and former Irish international, Head of

Commercial Operations Brian Facer and

Community Coach Ross Stewart had raised

more than £6,500 when they set off.

Paul wanted to support a charity

nominated by his mother-in-law, Rozi,

who has cancer. He said: “When I see

what she has been through, this run is a

walk in the park.”

In glorious sunshine, 121 individual and corporate supporters took part in the Slieve to Slieve Mountain Challenge in Northern Ireland – scaling the 2,788ft Slieve Donard.

“What a day!” said Regional

Fundraising Events Manager

Suzy McIlveen. “It was incredibly

hot, but we made it. The views

from both the Saddle and the

One of the most northerly outposts in the British Isles now has a new addition: a Marie Curie Fundraising Group.

The launch of the group in Orkney

comes just before the rollout of a small-

scale pilot of the Marie Curie Nursing

Service on the largest of Orkney’s islands

later this summer. Chaired by Barbara

Todd, the group is based on Mainland, the

main island, and covers the 20 inhabited

islands off the north coast of Scotland.

“Orkney is a very giving, generous

community,” said Vonnie Carson,

Community Fundraiser in Inverness.

“This group is enthusiastic and has all

sorts of plans to raise money and support

their local service. They want to recruit

Each runner burned an estimated

17,000 calories. If you’d like to

make a donation you can visit the

team’s justgiving page

www.justgiving.com/ultrawall

summit were breathtaking

and the team camaraderie

was wonderful.”

This year, participants could

choose a timed option, competing

to be the fastest team to complete the

challenge. Mascots from corporate

supporters IFA, SHS Group and Tayto

joined Marie Curie’s Miss Daffy in a

pre-event race.

fundraisers from other islands to support

their efforts.”

The pilot of the Marie Curie Nursing

Service in Orkney will consist of two

Marie Curie Nurses and two Healthcare

Assistants and is part of a one-year pilot

that begins in August.

Project Manager Harry Bunch said:

“We’ve developed the scheme in

conjunction with the Stromness GPs’

surgery. The service will focus on helping

people and families in Stromness, Orkney’s

second largest town, and nearby Dounby.”

Saintly fundraisers in 69-mile run

Sun shines on Slieve Donard climbers

New support and service in Orkney

NEW GROUP: (front) Vonnie Carson (left)

and Barbara Todd; (back) Shirley Mcguinness

Kirsteen Munro, Sylvia Campbell, Linda

Lennie, Sheila Henderson and Freda Bruce

FLOWER POWER (left to right): Paul Shields,

Daff y the daff odil, Brian Facer and Ross Stewart

PHONE A FRIEND: Corporate supporters

dressed up as part of the event

FLOWER POWER (left to right): Paul Shields

An intrepid team of 75 HomeServe employees from Walsall, Preston and Banbury have trekked more than 1,000 metres to the summit of Mount Snowdon to raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Care.

The feat raised more than £15,000

and climbers included members of the

senior leadership team, such as UK

Chief Executive Offi cer Jonathan King.

The fundraisers took on average six

hours to complete the route. Jonathan’s

King of the Mountain trophy went to

the top fundraiser, Joanne Bijsterbosch,

who raised a mammoth £1,885.

Mr King said: “I continue to be

amazed by the dedication shown by

everyone at HomeServe in supporting

Marie Curie Cancer Care. It’s not just

big, fundraising challenges; staff help

in hundreds of ways, from Wear

Yellow to Work Days to just

donating their spare change.”

Having originally pledged

to donate £1million over

three years, HomeServe

smashed that target and has

now donated more than

£1.35 million since adopting Marie

Curie as its national charity partner

in 2010. The company has extended its

partnership until March 2014, and for the

fourth consecutive year will sponsor

Marie Curie’s Walk Ten events this summer.

Snowdon trek continues HomeServe support

TAKE HAT:

HomeServe

staff prepare

to scale

Snowdon

A Dine in Dunton meal and quiz night organised by Marie Curie Cancer Care’s South Leicestershire Support Group raised £946 for the charity.

The event, held in Dunton Bassett, was

led by Marie Curie volunteer Margaret

Come dine with supporters in DuntonMEAL TIME:

Dine in

Dunton cooks

provided a

four-course

meal

Brookes and her friend Glenis. Ladies

from the Dine in Dunton group worked

tirelessly to provide a slap-up four-course

meal for more than 60 local people. They

were entertained with a quiz provided by

Area Fundraising Manager Marea Roberts.

£1,885The amount Joanne

Bijsterbosch raised.

People July 201318

Inbox

YEAR ENDI am “only” a volunteer at Marie Curie

and so may not understand the

historic background nor the fi nancial

reasons, but it did strike me that having

the year end of Marie Curie on 31 March

– right in the middle of the busiest

period for the charity – may not be

ideal. It seems to add to the pressures of

the staff and local groups when they are

arranging collections, organising people

and banking monies.

Would a different year end of Marie

Curie be more sensible? For example,

31 May – when the Daffodil Appeal will

be all completed and when

Marie Curie are ready to launch the

Blooming Great Tea Party campaign?

Just a thought!

Mike Shelmerdine

Finance Director Andrew Whitehead replies:Thanks for your suggestion, Mike. A

year end of 31 March enables us to

plan our patient services with the NHS.

The NHS commissions our nursing and

hospice services based on April-to-

March fi nancial years and this enables

us to budget and plan our activities

knowing the level of service and funding

we will receive.

It also enables us to readily report on

the level of care undertaken throughout

the year.

I appreciate that it comes during

GDA time but alignment with the NHS

commissioners is a very signifi cant factor.

TRAVEL SAVINGSAs we seek to drive down costs whilst

increasing income to further increase

what can be spent on nursing and

patient care, would it not be appropriate

to view training and other reasons for

travel strategically by organising more

of our required meetings/training around

employees’ locations?

If a subject is mandatory rather

than suggested, then we could organise

more training where the employees are

based. Numbers will be greater and so

it will be easier to arrange/justify

on-site training, rather than incurring

the costs of travel and overnight stays.

Obviously, there are sometimes

We have launched the Peacock Awards, which are all about

celebrating exceptional contributions from our nurses, across both the hospices and nursing service. We’d like to thank everyone who nominated a nurse – there have been some fantastic entries. The shortlist will be drawn up by our esteemed panel of judges, and invited to Marie Curie’s September Annual General Meeting for the award ceremony, at which the winners will be announced.

You will have heard about the

transition of nurses’ line management

from the Nursing Support Centre back to

the regional nursing teams. The offi cial

handover took place at the start of July.

There are a number of Caring Services

projects that are facilitating changes,

good business reasons for travel, but

it should be possible to make some

savings in this area.

Niall DurdinRegional Operations Offi cer (London

and the South East)

FANTASTIC FUNDRAISINGCongratulations to all our Fundraising

Groups for a fantastic fi nancial year.

Together, 345 groups brought in more

than £305,000 – a record sum – that

averages out at £8,841 per group.

And 49 of our groups raised more

than £15,000.

Since the new fi nancial year started,

a further 45 fundraising groups have

formed – we would like to welcome

them all.

If you are a Marie Curie People reader

and would like to fi nd out more about

your local fundraising group, please

get in touch. For more details, just

visit mariecurie.org.uk/groups or call

0845 052 4184.

Sacha Glasgow-SmithFundraising Volunteer Programme

Manager

We need to demonstrate our value for money

WRITE TO US Do you have a comment about the charity or one of our articles, or a suggestion for a story? Write to us at [email protected]. Comments and letters may be edited.

Here are a selection of the top tweets from the past few weeks. Follow us on @maricurieuk or tweet using #mariecurieuk

Followers on Facebook are speaking out about the valuable support from Marie Curie. Follow us at facebook.com/MarieCurieUK

today was the day we handed over this

beauty 2 @mariecurieuk all our hard work

paid off amazing @RedRocketNelson

If it wasn’t for @mariecurieuk my

Grandad would be stuck in wheelchair,

can’t thank them enough for all the help

they have given us

@mariecurieuk it was a pleasure running

the marathon and I had a great time

raising money for you!

@mariecurieuk Thanks to the guys who

saw us on our way at the @NightriderLdn

event. Your smiles made it all real.

Such support for our team!

@mariecurieuk My dad, whose last days

you made more bearable, loved choc

digestives with cheese on top!

Michelle Tavener My dad loved a cuppa tea,

We even had a tea poem at his funeral.

Graham King I will never forget the practical

help I received from MC in the last couple of

days of my dad’s life. Earth angels.

Sheila “Reid” Garrity Couldn’t have coped

without you, looking after my mum during

the night, so that I could have a decent night

sleep! Fantastic people.

Sarah Land please everyone support

Marie Curie. The nurses are amazing people

to everyone including patient. x

Russell Hamilton Proud to be a member

of South Herefordshire’s Marie Curie Cancer

Care Fundrainsing Group. Thanks to all of

our supporters.

ultimately to aid our future development.

It’s important to understand some of the

challenges the charity is facing, and why

this work is so important for the future of

Marie Curie.

The changing healthcare and

commissioning environment: I’m sure you

will know that the NHS is undergoing

signifi cant change. Therefore, it’s vital

that the charity keeps abreast of the

changing healthcare landscape to ensure

we can continue to deliver excellent care

to our patients and families.

We also know that some of the

challenges that lie ahead will come during

the next commissioning round, whereby

service providers will predominantly be

judged on cost, providing they meet a

minimum set of quality standards.

Being competitive: It’s more important

now than ever before that the charity is

able to demonstrate to commissioners that

we are the ones they want to run their

end of life care services. We need to be

able to demonstrate our value for money,

ensuring we are competitive compared to

other service providers.

Supporting our workforce: The

transition of management back to the

regions will mean our nurses have the

management support they need. We

are recruiting for additional regional

administration and Clinical Lead Nurses

to support the new regional structure.

TOP TWEETS

FACEBOOK FRIENDS

Inbox is Marie Curie People’s forum for your letters and emails. If you’ve a brilliant idea or a question

about our work – or if something is bugging you – email [email protected]

Lauren Nelson@LaurenDowrick8

Rachel@RVBMikeDignam1D

Lee Taft@Taftifi cation

Martin Williamson@tintom

Calum Mckay@cdmackay

Did you enjoy this month’s column or is there something you think people would like to hear more about? Email me and let me know: [email protected]

It’s more important now that the charity demonstrates to commissioners that we are the ones they want to run their end of life care services.

Challenges and changes for our future developmentEach issue in our new Caring Services column, Dawn Irons, Communications Lead for Caring

Services, will present a taster of hot topics, news and useful information from the team.

CARING SERVICES

1919

Hatched, matched and more

Proud parents welcome lovely Lulu

Royals praise Marie Curie at Palace party

Senior Strategic Development

Manager Tilde Nielsson and

Alan DaCosta are the proud parents of

Lulu Marie Leocardia DaCosta-Nielsson.

Lulu was born on 14 March 2013,

weighing 2.97 kg.

Marie Curie Nurse Susan Bradley and Marie Curie Welshpool

fundraiser Kaye Derwas met HRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cambridge at Buckingham Palace’s fi rst garden party of the year.

The Duchess chatted with Susan and

Kaye. “She instantly recognised my

uniform and the daffodil in my lapel,”

said Susan, “and told us that she had

great admiration for the charity’s work,

as our staff cared for her grandfather in

his home when he was terminally ill.

“I told Prince Charles I did night

shifts, to which he replied, ‘I really hope

you are enjoying a well-deserved day

off!’ He then looked at Kaye, and said

[of the Marie Curie Nurses], ‘They are

marvellous aren’t they?’”

Susan was nominated to attend

because she and her partner Jon raise

funds tirelessly for the charity.

“The whole day was wonderful –

more than what we’d hoped for,” she

refl ected. “The chance to speak to the

Duchess and Prince Charles – especially

as he is our Royal Patron – was so

unexpected.”

July 2013 People

WRITE TO US

SUDOKU

Do you have a birth, wedding, civil partnership, retirement or long service to celebrate? Write to us at [email protected]

To play: Complete the grid so that every row, column and every 3x3 box contains

the digits 1 to 9. There is no guessing or maths involved, just use logic to solve.

Find the solutions on page 12.

John D CarrionHe sings, he keeps fi t and he’s got one eye on America’s biggest job – meet Project Manager, Future Marie Curie Nursing Service, John D Carrion.

Q: How long have you worked for Marie Curie? Since January 2013.

Q: What did you do before? I worked

as Project Manager at the Royal College

of Psychiatrists.

Q: What are the three most important aspects of your job? One, reviewing the

most needed changes to the Marie Curie

Nursing Service; two, creating teams to

make the recommendations; and three,

implementing the changes.

Q: Describe your typical day. A typical

day is spent planning for future changes,

while troubleshooting the changes

currently taking place.

Q: What do you do when you’re not at work? I sing in a chorus and chair

the chorus’s board of trustees. I also try

to travel.

Q: When was the last time you laughed?Yesterday, when I was at chorus

rehearsal.

Q: If you were an animal what would you be? A lion.

Q: What makes you happy? Summer.

Q: What makes you sad? The overwhelming poverty gap

throughout the world.

Q: What did you want to be when you grew up? An astronaut… or President

of the United States. I think there is still

time for either – or both.

Q. What’s your favourite pudding?Banana cream pie.

Q: What was your favourite childhood TV programme? Eureka’s Castle, but I

don’t know if that played in the UK.

Q: Tell us a fascinating fact about yourself. I used to be very overweight

and am now a fi tness instructor, having

lost 5.5 stone.

Q Which fi ve people, alive or dead, would you like to invite to dinner? Barack Obama, Robert Preston,

Abraham Lincoln, Bea Arthur and

HM Queen Elizabeth II.

60 SECONDS WITH...

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Marie Curie People sudoku sponsored by:

MARVELLOUS: Susan Bradley on a “well-deserved day off ”

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Registered in England and Wales with Charity Reg No. 207994 and in Scotland with Charity Reg No. SC038731.

Charity reg no. 207994 (E

ngland & W

ales), SC

038731 (Scotland) S

192

marie curie people july 2013

Documents

end of life care project

effective care

life care needs

life care provision

social care trusts

social care board

future of end

new marie curie hospice