St Peter's Hospice campaigners fight to keep charity in south Bristol
The group Save Our Hospice – which will change its name after St Peter's announced the closure of its site in St Agnes Avenue – said they will go as far trying to vote out St Peter's board of trustees to help bring the hospice back.
About 25 people from all over south Bristol met at Windmill Hill City Farm last night to discuss how they could secure health care for terminally ill people in south Bristol.
They had the backing of a number of councillors, who promised to lend their support.
The group had considered setting up an alternative hospice of its own, but decided against it because of a lack of resources.
Now they are going to put pressure on the PCT – which along with charitable donations helps fund St Peter's Hospice – to get it to talk to the hospice's trustees.
Campaign group member Paula Davis, 54, of Victoria Park, said: "We need to keep pressure on the PCT to make them realise we have had a hospice here in south Bristol, lost it, and that we still need it.
"We need to get doctors and MPs to keep the PCT informed of people who need hospice care, and it is not available to them. St Peter's Hospice doesn't actually have information on how often or how many people it can't help – how many hospice bed spaces it needs to support the number of people who are referred to it."
The group agreed it would ensure that a register of people who need end-of-life support is made available from GPs and fed through to the PCT to show how many people still need the support of a hospice.
Councillor Gary Hopkins (Lib Dem, Knowle) said: "I don't think it is impossible to get residential hospice care in south Bristol – it could be in the new hospital. Chances of reviving the St Peter's Hospice site are very small, but there is a realistic chance of getting some beds in the future."
Mark Bailey (Lib Dem, Windmill Hill) said he hoped discussions with the PCT would prove fruitful, but didn't want to stop putting pressure on St Peter's Hospice.
He said: "We need to prove to St Peter's that there is a real case for beds in south Bristol, as they just keep on repeating the same mantra that as long as there is a place at Brentry it will be OK.
Mark Brain, (Lab, Hartcliffe) said the human consequences of the closure were appalling. He said: "The PCT is paying for a service that we in south Bristol are not getting. They have had the good will of the people in south Bristol and they are taking it for granted, and it is just not good enough. I think people are starting to get angry about this now – we should ask the PCT what they are going to do about it."
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