A care providing charity has removed the word “hospice” from its name after finding the term was putting off potential beneficiaries from accessing its services.
Compton Care today announced its rebrand from Compton Hospice after conducting research that found people were fearful of accessing its services.
The Wolverhampton-based charity found a large number of patients, staff and supporters associate the word “hospice” with being “a place you go to die”.
According to the £9m charity, this negative perception has contributed to people often becoming fearful of accessing its care, as well as healthcare professionals making referrals only in the final weeks or days of a person’s life.
As Compton Care, the organisation aims to ensure the care it provides is accessible to people much earlier and for longer.
The move will bolster Compton’s service delivery at its sites and in the community for patients and their loved ones across Wolverhampton, the Black Country, Staffordshire and Shropshire.
Chief executive Claire Marshall said: “Our research with patients, families and supporters highlighted key challenges surrounding access to hospice care – namely fear about who we are and what being referred to us means.
“We’re on a mission to remove this fear and break down barriers to service access to ensure more patients get referred to us earlier, so we can treat them sooner and help them live better lives.”
New centre
The 35-year-old charity has also published a new strategy, which includes a £2.5m investment into a Care Coordination Centre, supported by £1.5m of funding from ex-Goodyear workers.
This centre will be built on the Compton Hall site in Wolverhampton will be a mixture of offices and service delivery space.
The centre is intended to be a first port of call for all the charity's new patients.
Some new staff will be hired to work in the centre but how many is yet to be confirmed.
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