Aylesbury family back hospice charity’s appeal to help more patients next year

The family of an Aylesbury man who received end-of-life care at home from a local hospice charity are backing an appeal to ensure other patients and families in Bucks get the help and support they need in 2023 and beyond.

Jed Miller and his family were among thousands who have been looked after by the Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity team this year.

Daughter Vicki said: “Dad’s wish was to stay at home - he wanted to be able to see his garden that he’d worked so hard on, to be in familiar surroundings and have his family and dog around him.

“Since his diagnosis, we were supported by Cleo, one of the hospice’s community nurses, who helped Dad get care from the Lymphoedema Clinic and the physiotherapist at the hospice.

"Cleo and the FNH@Home team arranged all of his end-of-life care. If we were worried, all we needed to do was to call them and they’d give advice or come out to see us. We couldn’t have done it without them and their support.”

Over the past year, Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity has supported thousands of patients and families. But with a growing and ageing population, and the impact of Covid-19 on expected patient outcomes, the charity knows that the number of patients across Bucks and its borders who could benefit from specialist care is going to increase rapidly.

CEO Jo Turner said: “In 2021/22 we contributed over £1.2 million to hospice services – an increase of over 60 per cent from just five years ago.

“We are committed to making sure that everyone in our area who needs it has access to the best hospice care, wherever and whenever they want it.

"To be able to meet this aim we will need to invest more in our services – and we cannot achieve do this without the income raised by our supporters.”

Vicki said her father would be ‘thrilled’ his family are supporting the appeal.

She added: “I hope they get lots of funds from it. If it helps one family in need, that would be great.”

Find out more about the appeal here.