St Christopher's Hospice
Posted by Jon Underwood on Sept. 26, 2010, 11:58 a.m.
Dame Ciciley Saunders founded St Christopher’s as the first hospice to link expert pain and symptom control, compassionate care, education and clinical research. St Christopher’s has been a pioneer in the field of palliative medicine, which is now established worldwide. St Christopher’s serves a population of 1.5 million across south east London, Bromley and Croydon and currently cares for over 2,000 dying individuals every year. St Christopher’s cares for individual patients with life limiting illnesses and supports their families and friends. We treat our patients as individuals and strive to understand and meet their unique needs, in the hospice or, increasingly, in the familiar surroundings of their own homes. Education has always been at the centre of our work. St Christopher's extends its teaching and influenced across the world and welcomes the rich exchange of with overseas as well as local students and visitors. Our Education Centre delivers the highest quality training resulting from research, practice and experience. Its Education Programme covers a wide range of topics encompassed by End of Life Care. St Christopher's is a registered charity. It costs over £14 million each year to maintain our services, just 28% of our funding from the National Health Service the balance must be raised from voluntary contributions. Everyone is welcome at St Christopher's, and everyone is valued—whatever their race, religion, or lifestyle.