Celebrating 40 years of local hospice at home

Celebrating four decades of local hospice at home

This week, our President, Moira Rennie MBE was delighted to visit the team at Peace Hospice in Watford, marking 40 years since five pioneer nurses created a local version of hospice care for her husband in their home.

In 1985 Moira’s husband, Iain Rennie, was diagnosed with a brain tumour in his mid-30s. Iain did not want to spend his last days in an impersonal general hospital ward.  Both he and Moira desperately wanted him to be cared for in the familiar surroundings of their home so he could be with his family for as long as possible.

Moira recalls: “It all started with five nurses in our front room who passionately believed in a better way to care for people when they needed it most.”

The five pioneer nurses discussed ways in which they could provide care and support to Iain and his family at home as hospice organisations were unable to do this at that time.  They decided to work together with the blessing of Iain’s GP and District Nurse, to provide 24-hour nursing cover. Iain’s employer agreed to provide some funding to pay the nurses a basic wage.

Iain died peacefully at home 10 weeks after he started receiving hospice care at home.  The five nurses felt that the experience of caring for Iain had been so positive that they wanted to continue to provide this service, free of charge, to other terminally ill patients, in their own homes.

And so Iain Rennie Hospice at Home was born.

The charity that exists today is firmly rooted in the same values of personalised care for patients in the setting that is best for them.

Today the charity has grown considerably to offer a whole range of services for local people who are diagnosed with a progressive life-limiting illness, right from the point of diagnosis through to bereavement support for those around them.