Saint Michael’s Hospice, Harrogate, has been granted planning permission to build a new inpatient unit which, once finished, will offer unrivalled care for local people with terminal illness.
The new single-storey facility will be built within the grounds of Saint Michael’s Hospice, on Hornbeam Park, on what is currently the charity’s visitor car park.
It will offer 10 state-of-the-art en-suite bedrooms, suitable for patients of all abilities and each will have access to beautifully landscaped gardens and uninterrupted views of Crimple Valley.
Chief Executive of Saint Michael’s Tony Collins said:
This decision represents a big step forward in the development of specialist care for local people with terminal illness.
Our Crimple House base is a wonderful building but it was never designed as a Hospice, and this is most keenly felt by those using the inpatient unit.
We are looking after patients with increasingly diverse illnesses and symptoms that are becoming much more complex and trying to adapt the first floor of a heritage property to offer the specialist care they need is becoming increasingly difficult.
This facility will be the first purpose-built unit of this kind in the Harrogate district and will be designed with the needs of the patients of the future in mind.
This project is part of the charity’s response to the growing numbers of people in the district wanting Hospice care in a setting of their choice.
Tony added:
The extra space created by the inpatient unit relocation will allow us to make the entire ground floor of Crimple House into a wellbeing centre for outpatients.
Together with the work we are currently doing to extend the services we offer in people’s homes, this development will enable us to help more people, offer a greater variety of services and, importantly, this care will be offered in a setting based on patient choice.
The new inpatient unit is expected to cost between £2.5million and £3million and Saint Michael’s will begin fundraising for the project by seeking support from grant giving trusts, foundations and high profile philanthropists.
