Weldmar Hospicecare has officially opened a brand new Outpatient Suite at their hospice in Dorchester.
Patients, their loved ones, and those experiencing bereavement are being supported in the new space, where they can receive complementary therapies, physiotherapy assessments, counselling, and wellbeing support activities.
Michael Dooley, Lord Lieutenant of Dorset, officially cut the ribbon on behalf of Weldmar’s patron, King Charles III, and said: “True care is holistic; physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual. That is why this new suite is so important. The wellbeing support, counselling, complementary therapy, and physiotherapy that will take place here represent the very best of compassionate and integrated care. His Majesty The King has long championed this approach and has supported Weldmar since his first visit here in 1992.”
“I think it’s absolutely brilliant,” says Caroline Hamblett, Weldmar Hospicecare’s CEO. “When you talk to the people who are using the services, they love it. You can come into the hospice now, go left into outpatient suite, and it’s bright, it’s airy … we’ve got more complementary therapy, more bereavement services, and we’re able to serve more people. I couldn’t be happier, it’s wonderful.”
Lord Julian Fellowes, a Vice President of Weldmar, said: “I think they’ve done a wonderful job. I know the building quite well because we’ve been involved with the place for some years now. It seems to me that it’s fulfilling a very useful role for the community. It’s a nice place to be.”
The extension to the building was funded by a capital grant for hospices from the Department of Health and Social Care, specifically for improvements to things like building, IT, and infrastructure. The new rooms were equipped and furnished thanks to donations to Weldmar’s Securing Tomorrow’s Care Appeal, with local charity Ducks and Drakes Cancer Trust contributing £25,000.
