Nettlebed hospice: Charity urged to replace unit using sale funds

Joyce Grove's inpatient unit closed in March 2020

Campaigners have urged a charity to reinvest millions of pounds from the sale of a closed hospice to create a new palliative care unit in the area.

The former hospice, Joyce Grove, is being sold for £20m, Oxfordshire councillor Stefan Gawrysiak said.

He said the owner, the Sue Ryder charity, had a moral duty to replace the Nettlebed unit after raising millions of pounds in local donations.

However, the charity said a new unit would not be the best use of funds.

Tony Hardy said the hospice helped him to cope with the death of his son

Joyce Grove's inpatient unit closed in March 2020 because of falling demand, the charity said.

Previously it said the Grade II-listed Edwardian building was "not fit for purpose".

Mr Gawrysiak, a town, district and county councillor for Henley-on-Thames, said local people had donated millions of pounds to the hospice over more than 30 years.

He said: "If the board of Sue Ryder are getting £20m for the sale... they have a moral responsibility to reinvest some of that money to provide the six-bedded unit that we want."

Sue Ryder raised funds by holding regular markets at the hospice

Town councillor Ian Reissmann added: "I've seen people in tears as a result of the threat to this service and now the loss.

"The beds are needed where there is not the ability for the family to care for people at home."

Tony Hardy, whose son David died at the hospice in 2018, said it helped the family to cope.

He added: "[David] did not want to pass away at home in order not to inflict that trauma on his children. For him that was the best experience he could have."

Sue Ryder said the inpatient unit had become "financially unviable" as more people chose to end their lives at home.

The charity said: "Investing millions of pounds in building a new inpatient unit for an average of four patients would not be the best use of funds."