Local hospice care charity Phyllis Tuckwell has recently carried out a complete internal refurbishment of the Beacon Centre in Guildford, where it provides much of its community and Living Well care from.
Phyllis Tuckwell provides supportive and end of life care for patients and families across the whole of West Surrey and part of North-East Hampshire. It has worked from the Beacon Centre in Guildford, which is located on the site of the Royal Surrey County Hospital, since 2015, giving easier access to its services to patients and their families and carers who live on the east side of its catchment area.
The Living Well community care which the charity provides from the Beacon Centre supports patients who need help managing living everyday life with their illness. Its doctors, nursing team, therapists, social workers, counsellors and pastoral care team visit patients at home, keep in touch by phone, and run two eight-week programmes which help patients and their families and carers to manage living everyday life with an advanced or terminal illness.
“We have carried out an extensive refurbishment of the Beacon Centre, to improve the facilities and environment there for our patients and their families and carers, and also for our staff and volunteers,” said Maria Aziz, Beacon Centre Manager at Phyllis Tuckwell. “We have created two new consulting rooms, a new one-to-one room, two group session rooms and a new reception area. We have also improved staff facilities, adding a new kitchen and a staff welfare area. In addition to this, we have updated our IT infrastructure, and have extended our fresh air ventilation and air conditioning systems to additional areas of the building. The lighting throughout the building has been replaced with energy efficient LED lighting, we have decorated throughout, and we have replaced all of the flooring with materials and colours appropriate for dementia care.”
Phyllis Tuckwell is also currently in the process of building a new Hospice on its existing site in Farnham. Demolition of the existing building is planned to take place towards the end of the year and building work will start from January 2024, with the charity aiming to move into the new Hospice by January 2026. While this work is underway, all of Phyllis Tuckwell’s Living Well services and much of its community services will be based at the Beacon Centre. Its In-Patient Unit services will be temporarily relocated to a new 10-room wing at Kings Lodge care home in Camberley. To find out more, please visit www.pth.org.uk/new-hospice