Hospice's name to reflect its services

OUR LADY’S Hospice in Harold’s Cross, Dublin, has changed its name to improve public awareness of the range of services it offers apart from the end-of- life care for which it’s best known.

Now called Our Lady’s Hospice Care Services, it has been offering some of these services, including rheumatology care and residential care for people with chronic conditions, for more than 50 years.

Rheumatology services at the hospice began in the late 1950s and the hospice has provided long-term beds and palliative care to patients with chronic disorders for more than 100 years.

“Obviously these services have evolved over the years, but we found a lot of people wouldn’t have known about them and we wanted to incorporate all our services under one brand and promote a better understanding that they are there,” said a spokeswoman for the hospice, Criona Cullen.

The hospice also treats people with neurological conditions and has a community Reablement Unit which opened in 2004 to provide short-term rehabilitation for stroke patients. It also has residential beds for highly dependent elderly people, and terminal patients who are not at the end of their lives.

“Another reason for the name change is to promote a better understanding that we manage both Harold’s Cross and Blackrock hospices,” said Ms Cullen. Blackrock Hospice, which opened in 2003, is a 12-bed palliative care facility. End-of-life care is provided to about 600 patients by both hospices and 250 people avail of the day hospice facilities in the two locations.

The last patients were moved from the original 19th century Our Lady’s hospice building in August 2009 and moved to Anna Gaynor House, a new 100-bed facility. The rheumatology unit there runs in conjunction with St Vincent’s University Hospital and provides specialist rehabilitative care to 700 patients with chronic arthritic conditions. The hospice is considering possible uses for the old facility and, according to Ms Cullen, architects are assessing its potential for redevelopment.