In spite of the lock-down, the members of Royal Lancashire Lodge No. 116 are still keeping in touch with each other and two members suggested that instead of waiting for their next committee meeting in September, they should make a donation of £1000-00 to Pendleside Hospice. The Lodge members were contacted and they agreed that the donation should be given immediately, which would help them in coping with the Corona Virus outbreak.
The donation will certainly help the Hospice as it has (and unbeknown to the Lodge members at the time of the donation), just opened their day services unit as an eight-bed ward taking their capacity from 10 to 18. This means that they can take more end of life patients from hospitals to free up much-needed beds there, and they will inevitably start to see patients with Covid-19 or those that are symptomatic and this will bring additional challenges.
The Clinical Commissioning Group are paying for the running costs of the additional ward but the Hospice needs more bedding and other consumables (syringes, sporicidal cleaning solutions, scrubs, and uniforms for additional staff etc.) as well as more personal protective equipment, The donation could not have come at a more appropriate time.
Report by John Wilkinson