“It began with small steps and meetings held by the volunteers in people’s homes.” – Dr Mary Groves
Early in the 1980s, the St Albans medical community, including Dr Mary Groves MBE, realised that more was needed to care for those who were terminally ill in the local community.
Dr Mary Groves says, “As a GP back in the 80s I could see that no one was looking after people who had just been diagnosed with a progressive life-limiting illness. All of us, for various reasons were motivated to provide additional care and support for families nursing a terminally ill person at home.
“We wanted to enable more families to be cared for at home, if they so wished, rather than having to arrange for their loved one to be admitted to the more impersonal surroundings of a hospital. We felt people should be cared for at home for as long as possible and ideally to the point of death.
“I had a patient with terminal bowel cancer with whom I identified very deeply. She was the same age as myself, had children similar in age to mine and she died on Christmas morning in 1979. I had tried to care for her as best I could, but I was deeply aware that to meet all the varying needs of herself and her family I was woefully inadequate.”
Largely through the work of devoted volunteers, Grove House began with the appointment of the first Macmillan Nurse, the Hospice care team, and two care groups. Later a social worker, volunteer counsellors, a physiotherapist and home care volunteers joined the team. Still, much more was needed, including a suitable home for the charity.
“The vision was to create a great place of care, celebrating life as well as sharing pain. It began with small steps and meetings held by the volunteers in people’s homes. It took a long time, lots and lots of meetings in order to obtain a site, planning permission, meetings with the health authorities, policy documents, job descriptions and so on”.
In 1992, the late Lord Robert Runcie led a £1million appeal to build a purpose-built hospice. Mary says: “The building began, furnishings and equipment were ordered, and in November 1993 the Day Hospice was opened”.
Grove House Hospice welcomed its first patients in 1994. It was later renamed Grove House. As someone who played a crucial part in Rennie Grove Peace’s history, Dr Mary Groves is today a joint President of Rennie Grove Peace.