SAINT TERESA'S HOSPICE

Following discussions with Jane Bradshaw, Chief Executive of Saint Teresa’s Hospice, Darlington, with the Hospitaller Department of the Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem, Two laptops were donted by Prof Stephen Mather and Dr. Delphine Lees from the Institute of Cancer at Barts and the London Medical School.

Confrère Michael Seed, OLJ, sent a round-robin email to the staff of the Saint Bartholomew’s and Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary College University of London asking for a notebook computer. Jane said ‘The notebook computer is to use in patients' rooms. At present we're upgrading our network to allow for this, and we would be very grateful if you are able to supply one, wireless or not.’.

Stephen and Delphine both kindly replied within minutes with the offer of a computer each, one the purchase of a new PC Laptop, and the other a used Macbook. The Macbook belonged to a well beloved researcher, Dr. Emmanuelle Caron, Senior Lecturer at Imperial College London, donated by her friend Dr. Delphine Lees. The PC notebook was donated by Prof Steve Mather who has had a long regard for the hospice movement after his mother was cared for by St Ann’s Hospice in Cheadle.

St Teresa’s IT manager, Brian Campey, emailed ‘The machine I recommend is a Toshiba Satellite Pro L500-1D1 Laptop. Apart from a good spec which includes Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 2Gb memory, this wireless laptop has a 15.6in TruBrite screen which I think is the ideal size for patient use, stereo sound, and a good battery life of 3.5 hours.’. On receiving the news that this was going to be donated, Jane replied ‘Thank you SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much! This is such an unexpected surprise and everyone in the In Patient Unit is thrilled to bits!’.

Picture: Jane Bradshaw, Chief Executive Officer, trying out the MacBook...

Confrère Michael Seed delivered Delphine's gift of Emannuelle's Macbook as well as a cheque for the furnishing of the relatives room on the 11th February, and had useful discussions on the use of Healing and training of staff in Spiritual Companionship, two new areas that the Charity is keen to encourage.

St. Teresa's Hospice has been based in Woodlands House (built 1815) since February 1999. The In-Patient Unit was refurbished again in 2009. The Woodlands is the base for all of the Hospice's activities, which reach out across South Durham and North Yorkshire, providing free specialist help for patients and carers, via:-
Hospice at Home, Day Care, In-Patient Unit, Therapeutic Facilities, Complementary Therapies, Counselling and Befriending.

For more information on the Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem, and the Saint Lazarus Hospice Association please see the link.

For fundraising and Hospice Projects see the nearest Commandery or the Vice Chancellor who will direct you to the appropriate Officer.