Comment: Volunteers deserve a fair hearing

The Evening Post would never criticise the work that St Peter's Hospice does for its patients.

The hospice plays a vital, cherished role in our community. The charity that runs it will always be able to rely on this newspaper's support. However, the people who work for it are not above criticism.

At present, managers at St Peter's are considering the future of its original Knowle site and whether or not it would be better in a new facility on Hengrove Park.

It is an understandable consideration. A Hengrove site would put a new hospice near the soon-to-be-built South Bristol Community Hospital. The current building is essentially converted houses and it was not designed for 21st-century medical practice. As well as that, the Knowle building could need up to £300,000 spent on it in the next 18 months.

So a move could make good, practical, pragmatic sense.

Unfortunately, not everyone agrees. Six people who volunteer to help at the hospice have written a letter to the Post to express their concern at the possible Knowle closure and the possible relocation of its day hospice to the charity's Brentry site on the other side of the city. In order to be open, they sent a copy to the charity.

It's the reaction of hospice managers to this which is hard to understand. The volunteers say they were told their services were no longer required and they should not discuss the plans with anybody. As well as the letter, St Peter's chief executive Sandie Foxall-Smith seems concerned that the volunteers were "openly discussing" the plans with patients. She deemed that inappropriate.

Really?

Volunteers are the lifeblood of the charity. One of the "banished" six is 74-year-old Laurie Dinham. He should be receiving thanks for his support – not the cold shoulder.

Let's give hospice managers the benefit of the doubt.

They are not used to adverse publicity. They are not used to seeing letters in the Evening Post which criticise what they do.

But they should accept criticism with better grace and treat their volunteers with better care – even those who disagree with them.