BEAUMONT Hospital has been awarded funding to further develop end-of-life and bereavement care.
The hospital is to receive an Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF)/HSE Design & Dignity grant.
Following the tremendous success of the first three rounds of Design & Dignity Projects, Beaumont Hospital is one of seven hospitals nationwide to receive funding through Round Four.
Hospitals can be very inhospitable places for newly bereaved people and families. Recognising how deeply people are affected by their surroundings, the Design & Dignity Project has developed a range of projects within public acute hospitals.
To date, over 40 projects have been funded transforming older/dated spaces including family rooms, gardens and mortuaries across Ireland.
Hospital teams have so far created relaxing, spacious family rooms within busy acute wards, upgraded mortuaries into welcoming, respectful environments and redesigned viewing rooms in emergency departments and bereavement suites in maternity units.
At Beaumont Hospital, the End-of-Life Care Committee plans to develop two further projects with the funding – an Emergency Department bereavement suite and a number of family rooms in the Intensive Care Unit.
Gillian Rufli, Beaumont Hospital End-of-Life Care Coordinator, said the End-of-Life Care Committee and staff in the Emergency Department and Richmond Intensive Care Unit are delighted to be recipients of the grants.
“We have seen first-hand the very positive impact of Design & Dignity projects on the experience of families when a loved one is seriously ill or dying,” said Ms Rufli.
“We look forward to completing these new projects so that we will have quiet dignified spaces within these departments to enhance the care and support provided to families at a very vulnerable and difficult time in their lives.” Sharon Foley, chief executive of the Irish Hospice Foundation, said: “The vision of Design & Dignity is that every adult, paediatric and maternity hospital in Ireland has warm and welcoming spaces to enable dignity and respect for patients and families facing dying, death and bereavement.
“This flagship project is significantly shaping the overall culture of end-of-life care in Irish hospitals and it is truly wonderful to see the level of pride that staff feel, having played a vital role in bringing their Design & Dignity projects to fruition.”