Wakefield Hospice renames day therapy unit in honour of long-serving member of staff

One of the hospice's longest-serving members of staff, Anne-Marie Seymour joined as a consultant in 1996, before becoming medical director in 2000.

Now, to mark her years of service and retirement, the hospice has renamed its Day Therapy Unit in her honour.

The unit, now known as the Seymour Suite, is a key part of the hospice, which cares for 240 inpatients and 1,800 day therapy attendees every year.

Speaking at her retirement event, Anne-Marie said: "It has been a joy to be part of the growth and development of Wakefield Hospice over the last 20 plus years.

"At the core of what we do is caring for our patients and their families and it is humbling that so many people choose to have care with us because of their previous experience here as a friend, family member or colleague.

"We've had weddings and birthdays, we once converted one of the rooms and sorted [a patient and their partner] a candlelit dinner for Valentine's Day.

"One of the highlights in my recent years was a patient at Christmas who really likes donkeys and a donkey came to visit. We’ve had horses come to visit, but the donkey at Christmas was really quite special.

"I shall be very sad to leave Wakefield Hospice after a wonderful 24 years. I’m honoured they have renamed the DTU after me and I’ll be back visiting as much as I can.

"It has been a privilege to work at the hospice with a wonderful team and I look forward to watching the hospice continue to grow and develop."

Hospice staff, local hospital staff, trustees and former colleagues were invited to Anne-Marie's retirement celebrations earlier this month, which were spaced across the day to allow social distancing measures to be observed.

At an afternoon event, hospice nurses donned protective gear including aprons, masks and gloves to give Anne-Marie a special goodbye hug.

CEO of Wakefield Hospice, Tina Turner, said: “We are very grateful to Anne-Marie for her dedication to the hospice over the last 24 years. In a year when we should have been celebrating our 30th anniversary, the country has been hit by this awful pandemic.

"With no charge for care, and with only a quarter of our funding coming from the NHS, we very much rely on fundraising initiatives and the generosity of the surrounding community to carry out our work which has made this year particularly challenging for us due to the various restrictions in-place.

“We are so fortunate to have incredible people like Anne-Marie to carry out dignified end of life care, despite what they are faced with. We will miss her very much, but are delighted to be able to unveil The Seymour Suite in her honour.”