Demand for care at Heart of Kent Hospice reaches record high

For the first time in its 32-year history, Heart of Kent Hospice is now caring for over 1,000 local people across all its services.

The Aylesford-based Hospice, which cares for terminally ill people on their Inpatient Unit, in their own home or care home, has been experiencing a steady rise in referrals for several years and this trend is set to continue.   Research published in the medical journal The Lancet Oncology indicates that about 3,500 people in England may die within the next five years of breast, lung, oesophageal or bowel cancer due to a delay in their diagnosis. 

Evidence also shows that a gap of as little as two months in diagnosis and treatment has led to a significant number of patients seeing early-stage tumours progress to a stage where they cannot be cured. 

The Hospice, which is dedicated to making end-of-life care accessible to everyone in the community throughout all care settings, is focused on reaching people within their community who do not currently know about its services but could benefit from its care and support.

The Hospice Hub drop-in services are one way the Hospice is reaching more people and these are designed to support anyone with a terminal illness including their carers and families.  There are also specialist drop-in services for people with Dementia, Motor Neurone Disease (MND) or those requiring bereavement support.

It costs £6 million annually for the Hospice to continue providing services to patients and their families and friends who live in the Maidstone, Aylesford, Tonbridge & Malling and surrounding areas, £5 million of which has to be raised each year through fundraising.  

Since its establishment in 1991, more than 62,000 people, including patients and their families, have benefitted from the outstanding, compassionate care provided by the Hospice. 

Delays in diagnosis and the postponement of treatment have contributed to the growth in the number of patients requiring day-to-day support, and end-of-life care.

Even with the increase in demand, the Hospice is determined to reach all those in need of their services. In addition to caring directly for patients and their families, the Hospice’s Education Team share their expertise with other care providers to improve end-of-life care for all the Maidstone community.