Above: Staff at the new Hospice of St Francis on Shootersway ready to welcome their first arrivals. Below: the Hospice & the first male patient Phil Maton with wife Penny.
After months of fundraising the new purpose-built Hospice of St Francis welcomed its first patients last week.
The £6.4million hospice, which Gazette readers have helped to fund, opened its doors right on schedule after years of hard work.
And it is expected to become a blueprint across Europe. Hospices in Denmark and Switzerland are reportedly already planning to create facilities which are based on the St Francis design and layout.
Among the very first patients to benefit from the hospice's new facilities was Phil Maton.
Sadly the 44 year old passed away on Friday with his family around him but his wife, Penny Maton, said the care he and the family had received at the new hospice was second to none.
She said: "Phil was very honoured to be admitted on the first day of patient care at the new hospice. We all felt very cared for as a family.
"Sadly, Phil died on Friday, but our last few days together in the new hospice made such a difference."
Dr Ros Taylor, medical director of the hospice, said it had been an emotional time for everyone making the move up to the new site and making sure everything was ready to provide the best care possible from the very first day.
She said: "We were really pleased to say goodbye to the old building. Although there were a lot of memories there it had become impossible to work.
"It's cost us £6.4million and it's been paid for by the community, including more than £375,000 from readers of the Gazette and HeraldExpress. Without the generosity of the public there would have been no hospice."
Alison Brlant, who has been the project leader for the hospice's move, said everyone had gone the extra mile to make sure everything went to plan.
She said: "Out of all the things for me it's the fact that everyone's under one roof here. %
"People said you are leaving this lovely little house to come up to this huge building, but it has all the spirit of the old building.
"It's a wonderful place and Jarvis, the construction company, have been outstanding and made sure everything was ready on time."
One of the new patients, Rita Keel, of Northchurch, said she felt very well cared for in the new hospice.
She said: "It's a privilege to be here. It all seems so new and so vast and easy to get lost but everyone's very helpful and I feel so well looked after.
"I don't think all the money should have to come from the community, the government should have helped. But it is a lovely place to be."
South West Herts MP David Gauke, who visited the new hospice with Hemel Hempstead MP Mike Penning last week, said everyone should be proud of it.
He said: "It's a fantastic place and the patients really appreciate what's here. There is something here for generations in the Dacorum area. Everyone who has made a contribution to this has made a real difference and helped create a really special place."
St Francis Hospice will be a blueprint for others across Europe
Patients move into the new Hospice of St Francis on Shootersway
Hospice organiser, Luise Marston, left and Nurse Sarah Catt, in the day centre.
The new Hospice of St Francis is proving to be a blueprint for hospices across Europe.
The Danish Hospice Forum is already planning six facilities based on the Berkhamsted model - the only difference is, theirs will be Government funded.
Dr Ros Taylor, Medical Director and Chief Executive of the Hospice, said there were also links with a hospice in Switzerland and plans to help train others.
The hospice is being held up as a good example of layout, landscaping and the way in which its design is so patient-focused. She said: "The charity Help the Hospices is getting approached by people developing hospices abroad and they are referring them more and more to us.
"We've got our own training room and we had a talk this week about putting St Francis on the map and inviting people from other countries to train them here. We're also thinking about running a summer school."
Hospices in the UK only receive a small percentage of their funding from the government, with St Francis receiving only 21 per cent of their annual income from the State. And hospices receive no assistance from the Government for building projects.
A recent survey showed that more than 75 per cent of people believed the Government should provide more funding for hospice care. In many other countries, hospices are fully funded by the state and St Francis hopes by providing training it can raise valuable extra funds.
The new hospice boasts a self-contained training area which it will use to help spread its good practice and help other hospices reach the same high standards
Patients relaxing in the day centre with Luise and Sarah
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