Bath hospital to continue 'invaluable' end of life care project

RUHX are "so grateful" to be able to continue their work

An end-of-life service that offers comfort to those in their final moments can continue its "invaluable" work with £10,000 in funding.

The Compassionate Companions Service was set up in 2019 by Royal United Hospitals Bath charity (RUHX) and Dorothy House Hospice Care.

Volunteers sit with those at the end of their life; providing support for them and respite for their families.

The funding comes from the Liz and Jack Daniel Foundation.

Heidi, pictured second left, has been volunteering for nearly two years

Helen Meehan, lead nurse on the hospital's palliative care and end of life team, said: "The Compassionate Companions Service is making an exceptional difference to patient care.

"Caring for those nearing end of life is one of the most important things that we do in hospitals, and we only get one chance to get it right."

Ms Meehan said she was "so grateful" to The Liz and Jack Daniel Foundation for allowing them to "continue this invaluable service."

Funding will allow work to continue for the next three years

The service relies on the work of volunteers such as Heidi Morris, who has been a volunteer with RUHX for nearly two years.

She said it is important to know she has helped a family out.

She said: "I get a lot out of it.

'Means so much'

"To me it means so much that they're not dying alone."

The £100k comes from a foundation in memory of a woman who wanted to make a difference in her community.

Liz Daniel spent much of her later life at the RUH, and used much of her income as a landlady to buy needed equipment for the hospital.

The foundation was set up by Mrs Daniel in her last year, and continued after she died in September 2020.

Charitable causes

The foundation is continuing her work by letting out her portfolio, and using the net profit for charitable causes such as this.

As Liz didn't have any family after her husband Jack passed away years prior, the end of life care provided by RUH "kept her alive", said Milo Popperwell.

Mr Popperwell felt donating to Compassionate Companions was "the right thing to do".

"It touched me very much.

"It's everything that Liz would have liked," he added.