Prospect Hospice has been part of the Swindon community for over 40 years, caring for local people at the end of their lives. As a charity, we rely on the generous donations of the public to help us raise the vital funds we need to ensure everyone is offered our outstanding care free of charge.
Find out about the range of end-of-life care services that we offer to patients and their families. These delivered free of charge and are designed to provide compassionate, personalised support during every stage of a life-limiting illness in every kind of care setting, to anyone who needs it.
We couldn’t do what we do without considerable support from our local community. Find out all the different ways in which you can support Prospect Hospice, including fundraising, volunteering and purchasing from our shops. All contributions are greatly appreciated and enables us to deliver care that is free of charge to our patients and their families.
Whether shopping with us in person or online, or donating your pre-loved goods, we thank you for supporting us through our shops where you help to raise around £2million a year for Prospect Hospice.
We pride ourselves on being a great place to work and we're always looking for outstanding people to join our team at the hospice across all areas of the charity.
Prospect Hospice is the leading provider of education and training for end-of-life care in Swindon and north Wiltshire. Working closely with you, our colleagues within partner organisations, we want to ensure that the very best care is available to everyone facing the end of life. This is why we provide education and development opportunities, all of which aim to encourage learning and build confidence in end of life care and support.
During Nutrition and Hydration Week Prospect Hospice is taking the opportunity to highlight the work of its catering team and the work they do.
Rob Tynan, catering and events manager at the hospice (pictured) and his team ensure that meal choices are matched with the patients’ needs and portion sizes are adjusted for their appetites. All diets are catered for and the hospice’s dietician helps modify any meals to cater for special requirements. Rob said: “The meals are packed with extra nutrients to ensure our patients are getting the most out of their meals. All food is presented to look like they are eating at a restaurant and on crockery rather than hospital trays, it is important especially for dementia patients to feel like they are still in familiar surroundings.”
Amanda Kinsella, lead project nurse in quality improvement at the hospice, said: “We are proud of the services we offer patients, relatives and staff. Our catering team is happy to go the extra mile and make cakes for special occasions. Palliative care medication can alter taste and so this is taken into consideration when the team prepares the menu. The hospice also provides food and drink for carers of patients who are staying overnight.”
Prospect Hospice has a partnership with FareShare, a surplus food distribution charity, and receives a weekly delivery of surplus food which Rob uses to compile the menus, but he also stocks up the freezer with extra dishes.
There is an extensive menu for patients to choose from, but the catering team is happy to make favourite dishes on request. As well as three meals a day, the team is happy to provide snacks outside of the hospice’s normal kitchen hours.
Rob said: “I quite often get requests for good home cooking, like shepherds pie or sticky toffee sponge pudding. Whatever patients fancy is no trouble to our staff, if we haven’t got it in we will source it. We have been known to provide their favourite alcoholic beverage if that is what they fancy. The reality of the situation for our patients is that this could be their last meal, so we want them to enjoy whatever they want and are able to eat.”
01 June 2021
12 May 2021
06 May 2021