Who we are and what we do
St Clare Hospice is a charity providing specialist palliative care to improve the lives of people affected by a life-limiting illness in West Essex and the borders of East Hertfordshire. Our care enables people, their families, and carers, to make the most of every moment together, no matter how long they have left to live, supporting them whether at home or in the Hospice.
With limited NHS funding, we need to raise over 60% of our costs each year to provide our vital services; in 2021/2022 our costs were £5.1 m and this is forecast to rise to over £6 million in the next year. We therefore rely on our local community to help us raise money each year so we can continue being there for local families facing one of the most difficult journeys in life.
Our care
We offer a range of free, palliative and end of life care services to suit the needs of all local people who are facing death, dying and bereavement. We also offer community-based, volunteer-led support to help support local people in relation to living, and dying, well.
Hospice care at St Clare is varied, and aims to provide a holistic approach to a person’s overall wellbeing. Our support ranges from:
- Specialist, medical care, either on our Inpatient Unit or through our Hospice at Home and Community Palliative Care Team
- Therapeutic support via our Outpatient services, to help people manage their illness and live well independently
- Psychological, emotional, spiritual and practical support designed to help people navigate their journey
- Bereavement support, tailored to a person’s needs – whether their loss was recent or a long time ago
- Community-based services to help support local people’s overall wellbeing
Please click here to read more about our care services.
More information about St Clare Hospice
Click here to open the A Little More About Us leaflet
At St Clare Hospice, our passion to provide the best specialist palliative care to improve the lives of those affected by terminal or life-limiting illnesses lies at the heart of all we do.
Our mission, vision and values
Our mission
Here at St Clare Hospice, mission is to provide both specialist clinical services and volunteer-led social support that meet the complex medical and social needs of local people around the issues of death, dying and loss.
Our Vision
Our 2022+ Hospice Strategy sets our five strategic objectives that we are currently working towards.
- We will reach significantly more people who are facing death, dying and loss in our local communities.
- We will support our communities to become more resilient, to support each other and to remain independent for as long as possible.
- We will equip healthcare colleagues to have the confidence and skills to provide outstanding end of life care.
- We will seek partnerships to deliver outstanding care for patients and local people.
- We will grow as a strong, sustainable and effective organisation.
View the St Clare Hospice 2022+ Strategy here
Our Values
We are an organisation rooted in the values of compassion, integrity, respect, excellence and team working.
Equality & Diversity
At St Clare Hospice, we believe that everyone has the right to be heard, and cared for, when facing a life-limiting illness, are at the end of their life or are living with bereavement.
We are committed to ensuring that no patient, service user or their relative, as well as any member of staff or volunteer, supporter or member of the public, is discriminated against either directly or indirectly, on grounds of age, disability, gender, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, or sexual orientation.
We recognise that everyone is different, and we value the unique contribution that individual experiences, knowledge and skills make in delivering quality services. We aim to provide accessible services, delivered in a way that respects the needs of each member of our community and ensures equitable opportunity.
Our Equality & Diversity working group pledges to actively address inequality within our own organisation, holding both ourselves and others who work within the practice of palliative and end of life care accountable for effecting real change.
We promise to share more information on our plans, progress and future strategies with you in regard to equality, diversity and inclusion, in the near future. We also welcome your thoughts, feedback and advice on our approach, should you wish to share it with us. You can contact us at info@stclarehospice.org.uk
Our Impact
Every year, we release an Impact Report that tells you about how our care has made a difference to the lives of local people. Sharing highlights of new projects and exciting developments; facts and stats about our care, and our reach; plus our plans for the future – our Impact Report is our year in a nutshell.
