![Trinity Hospice shop, King Street, Hammersmith](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Trinity_Hospice_shop%2C_King_Street%2C_Hammersmith.jpg)
Royal Trinity Hospice is the oldest
hospice in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, founded in 1891 by a member of the
Hoare banking family. It is located in
Clapham Common
Clapham Common is a large triangular urban park in Clapham, south London, England. Originally common land for the parishes of Battersea and Clapham, it was converted to parkland under the terms of the Metropolitan Commons Act 1878. It is of g ...
, London, England, and provides specialist
palliative care
Palliative care (derived from the Latin root , or 'to cloak') is an interdisciplinary medical caregiving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Wit ...
. In 2019 Royal Trinity Hospice was rated "Outstanding" by the
Care Quality Commission
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care of the United Kingdom. It was established in 2009 to regulate and inspect health and social care services in England.
I ...
, the highest rating that can be awarded. The hospice provides palliative and end of life care for patients in an inpatient unit at their Clapham Common headquarters and in the community, wherever patients may be living. In 2018 Trinity cared for 2,500 patients and in addition provided pre- and post-bereavement support for over 900 carers.
Royal Trinity Hospice provides its specialist services free of charge for those who need them across its community of over 750,000 people from central and south-west London (its catchment includes all of the
London borough of Wandsworth and parts of the London boroughs of
Kensington and Chelsea,
Hammersmith and Fulham
The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham () is a London borough in West London and which also forms part of Inner London. The borough was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former Metropolitan Boroughs of Hammersmith and Fulham. The bor ...
,
Richmond upon Thames
The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in southwest London forms part of Outer London and is the only London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas amalgamated under the London ...
,
Merton,
Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...
and
Lambeth. Trinity's current CEO is Emily Carter.
History
William Hoare created the hospice in 1891 when he appealed for funds in ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' newspaper on Christmas Day to provide a home "for the man who is neither curable nor incurable, but simply dying". He gave £1,000 of the £2,000 needed to set up the Hostel of God, as Trinity was originally called. The remainder was raised by public subscription.
By 1894 Trinity had ten beds. Patients were cared for by the Order of St James's Servants of the Poor, a teaching order of nuns. In 1896 the
Society of Saint Margaret
The Society of Saint Margaret (SSM) is an order of women in the Anglican Church. The Order is active in England, Haiti, Sri Lanka, and the United States and formerly Scotland.
History
The Sisters of St Margaret were founded in 1855 by Dr John ...
of East Grinstead, a nursing order, took over. In 1899 the hospice moved from The Chase to
Clapham Common Northside. By 1933 Trinity had 55 spaces in the Hospice and was constantly caring for those in need. The much needed service continued to grow with the opening of the 25-bed St Michael's ward in 1953, bringing the bed total to 75.
During the 1960s and 1970s, significant changes were made in the philosophy of running hospices, and more focus was put on symptom relief and enhancing a patient's quality of life to the end. Trinity Hospice still follows this policy today, putting the patient's quality of life first.
In 1977 the running of Trinity Hospice was transferred from the hands of the nuns to Trinity's Council, which had been in place since the early 1900s. The hospice became a secular independent home.
From 1978 to 1985, the first refurbishment programme took place, which included a renovation of its gardens. During this period only 18 beds were occupied. This was not only due to the work going on but also a consequence of the increasing popularity of end of life care in the home. Thirty beds were available on completion of the work.
In 1980, Trinity's first full-time medical director was appointed and its home-care team was established, offering their services to people with terminal illnesses in their own homes. 1980 was also the year that Trinity took its current name and officially stopped being the Hostel of God. During the 1980s Trinity expanded its services in education and in 1987 opened a day centre to outpatients.
Trinity celebrated its centenary in 1991 with a service in
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...
. In the 1990s, treatment was broadened to include any patient with a life-threatening illness, as well as a greater emphasis on the needs of carers.
In 2009 a new, purpose-built 28-bed inpatient centre was added, designed around the needs of the patients by
TP Bennett. The building greatly improved the services provided at Trinity, offering patients private, en suites, family-friendly areas, counselling and bereavement rooms, new medical facilities and balconies overlooking peaceful gardens. The inpatient centre won the
Civic Trust Award
The Civic Trust Awards scheme was established in 1959 to recognise outstanding architecture, planning and design in the built environment.
As the longest standing built environment awards scheme in Europe, since 1959, more than 7000 projects have ...
2019 and a Building Better Healthcare Award for Best End of Life Care Design in 2009.
Royal Trinity Hospice Shops
Trinity has an estate of 21 shops across central and south west London selling new and pre-used goods, that help generate over £5.6 million towards free palliative and end of life care every year. Trinity's shops have been recognised by
''Vogue'' as among the best vintage shops in London and the best charity shops in London by ''
Time Out.''
In 2018, Royal Trinity Hospice shops collaborated with food writer
Jasmine Hemsley on a collection of pre-used goods as part of the Love Not Landfill campaign, funded by the London Waste and Recycling board. In 2019 Trinity partnered with social media influencer Oenone for the same campaign.
Residents
Among those who have stayed at the hospice are:
*
Ninian Comper
Sir John Ninian Comper (10 June 1864 – 22 December 1960) was a Scottish architect; one of the last of the great Gothic Revival architects.
His work almost entirely focused on the design, restoration and embellishment of churches, and the de ...
(died 1960)
*
Philip Watkins (died 1995)
*
Michael Latimer
Michael James Latimer (6 September 1941 – 25 June 2011) was a British television stage and film actor who later in his career turned to writing, directing and producing. Early life
Latimer was born in Calcutta, where his father had a busines ...
(died 2011)
*
David Webb (anti-censorship campaigner) (died 2012)
*
Lisa Lynch
Lisa Lynch (30 August 1979 – 11 March 2013) was a British journalist, known for writing about her experience of having cancer on her blog, ''Alright Tit'', and in a book, ''The C-Word''. She was portrayed by Sheridan Smith in the 90-minute B ...
, journalist (died 2013)
*
Dudley Sutton, actor (died 2018)
See also
*
Healthcare in London
Healthcare in London, which consumes about a fifth of the NHS budget in England, is in many respects distinct from that in the rest of the United Kingdom, or England.
History Early history
The earliest state hospitals in the UK were set up in ...
References
External links
*{{EW charity, 1013945, Trinity Hospice
Health in London
Hospices in England
History of the London Borough of Lambeth
Charities based in London
Health in the London Borough of Lambeth
1891 establishments in England