Bury Hospice
Tonight I visited Bury Hospice at the invitation of the Chief Executive, to view their plans for a new facility, and to meet some staff and take a tour. It was a very informative and enjoyable hour and a half, for which I’m grateful.
The visit started in slightly surreal fashion, I must admit, as I arrived just when two other local PPCs were leaving from earlier appointments. It was clearly some kind of politician’s open day, as Michelle Wiseman the Tory PPC for Bury South, and Maryam Khan the Labour PPC for Bury North were in the lobby leaving as I was going in. I did fear slightly that the coming-together of three opposing political forces in one place unexpectedly would result in some kind of time/space vortex occurring, but thankfully there were no black holes to be seen. It was though the first time Maryam and I had met, which was a shame because I didn’t have chance to even say hello. I’m sure our time will come though. This politics lark is weird like that - candidates come to recognise their opponents names so well and yet sometimes barely ever see each other.
I had never been to the Hospice before, which is not something to be proud of when it’s clear that this is a wonderful and respected facility giving a very high level of care to local people reaching the end of their lives. I am glad I went tonight, and although the tour was only a brief one I did have a long chat with the Chief Exec about the Hospice, its relationship with the NHS, its funding challenges and the need for donations to keep it going. As someone professionally involved with the NHS and voluntarily involved in a charity myself, I know how hard it is to deal with those two things, so doing so in unison and on a massive scale as the Hospice does is extremely tough. The people involve deserve our thanks and respect for the service they provide.
Rick
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