Reply to a letter supporting the hospice

15th December 2008

Dear ....

Thank you so much for your letter of ..., together with a copy of your letter to Surrey PCT regarding the charity’s future plans for providing care in Surrey. Marie Curie Cancer Care is committed to providing more nursing care throughout the UK to more people in their own homes. By 2013 we hope to double the number of patients we care for at home to 35,000 and to double the hours of care we provide.

In order to provide the best possible care to the most number of people in Surrey and further afield, we are looking at restructuring our services. As you have heard, this means that the charity is proposing to close its Caterham Hospice and the day care service on March 31, 2009. The charity is also reviewing its Community Supportive Care Service and the Specialist Palliative Care Team and is in discussions with Surrey Primary Care Trust and Croydon Primary Care Trust about how people with cancer, and their carers, are cared for and supported going forward.

The closure of the hospice is not a decision the charity has taken lightly. We fully understand the high regard and warmth of feeling in the local community for Harestone, but we need to ensure the care provided by the charity reaches the greatest number of patients possible.

I recognise that this is a difficult time for staff and patients at our hospice in Caterham, but I would like to assure you that Marie Curie Cancer Care, together with the local NHS providers and other charities in the locality, is working to ensure that the care given to the people of Surrey remains of the highest standard whether in hospital, nursing home or in their own home.

With best wishes,

Thomas Hughes-Hallett
Chief Executive